Parallel Political Realities
The Hungarian Europe Society organised an international workshop at the Central European University, Budapest on 30 May 2016. The invited experts discussed how the Visegrad countries reacted to the refugee crisis. The partners of HES were the representatives of the Europeum Institute for European Policy from Prague, the Human Rights Institute from Bratislava, and the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies at the University of Białystok. The host of the event was the CEU Center for European Neighborhood Studies. The project is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit.
PROGRAM
30 May 2016, Monday
Venue: Central European University, Popper Room
9 Nádor Street, Budapest, 1051
9.30-9.45 Welcome
- Péter Balázs (director, Center for European Neighborhood Studies, Central European University)
- István Hegedűs (chairman, Hungarian Europe Society)
9.45-10.30 Key-note speech
- Boldizsár Nagy (associate professor, Central European University): Parallel Realities: Political Crisis in a Legal Framework
Debate
10.30-11.30 Historical and Political Background of the Reactions to the Refugee Crisis in Hungary and Beyond
- András Schweitzer (vice-chairman, Hungarian Europe Society): Similarities and Differences – Path-dependency in the Region
- István Hegedűs (chairman, Hungarian Europe Society): Illiberal Democracy, Populism, and the Orbán-factor
- Erzsébet Strausz (member, Hungarian Europe Society) – Erik Uszkiewicz: (member, Hungarian Europe Society): Civilian Responses in Hungary
Debate
11.30-11.45 Break
11.45-13.30 Refugee Crisis: Government Policies in National Contexts
- Christian Kvorning Lassen (research fellow, Europeum Institute for European Policy, Prague): Political Games in the Czech Republic
- Peter Weisenbacher (executive director, Human Rights Institute, Bratislava): The Slovak Reaction - (Presentation Slides)
- Elżbieta Kużelewska (associate professor, Centre for Direct Democracy Studies, University of Bialystok):
Poland towards the Refugee Crisis - Júlia Iván (senior legal officer, Hungarian Helsinki Committee): Consequences of the Fence at the Hungarian Borders
- András Szalai (researcher, Center for European Neighborhood Studies, Central European University; member, Hungarian Europe Society):
- Theatrics of Xenophobia: Hungary and the 2015 Migration Crisis
Debate
13.30-15.00 Lunch Break
15.00-16.45 The Visegrad Countries in Comparative Perspective
- Györgyi Kocsis (vice chair-woman, Hungarian Europe Society) – Kata Nagy (member, Hungarian Europe Society): First Lessons of an Expert Survey
- Zsuzsanna Végh (researcher, Center for European Neighborhood Studies, Central European University; vice chair-woman, Hungarian Europe Society): The Political Dynamics of the Visegrad Group during the Refugee Crisis
- Igor Ujhazi (chairman, All Together, Novi Sad): Serbia’s Position during the Crisis and the Role of Civil Engagement
- Emina Bužinkić (member, Centre for Peace Studies, Zagreb): Welcome to Croatia?
- Dániel Hegedűs (research fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations and visiting lecturer, Freie Universität Berlin; member, Hungarian Europe Society): Between Moral Rightness and Political Necessity - German Politics in the Refugee Crisis
Debate
16.45-17.15
- András Kováts (director, Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants): Integration, Parallel Societies, Multiculturalism
Debate
17.15-17.30 Farewell Remarks
Further participants: Zsófia Vidák, Zsófia Stahl, Emma Gothár, Michal Cerny, Ernő Simon, Kinga Szurday, Jerzy Celichowski (members of the Hungarian Europe Society), Alena Krempaska (Human Rights Institute, Bratislava) and Katarina Davidova (Europeum Institute for European Policy, Prague)