Dialogue

Freeze Democracy?

example      A Portuguese take on Democracy these days.                                              By Cristina Dias Neves

“If only we could freeze democracy for a while…” I know this is an awkward thing to say, especially if we think of those who have lived – and still live and suffer – under dictatorial regimes. And that’s the reason why a Portuguese social democrat leader got such an amazingly negative response the day she asked herself publicly if it would not be a good thing to “have six months without democracy to put everything in order”.

Beware of the dancing Greeks

example                                                                                                                                   By Margarita Poulakou

The 25th of March is celebrated in Greece as the start of the uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which led to Greece’s independence. Thus it is a day of national pride. All over Greece parades are staged by communities large and small, usually involving local primary and high school students marching behind the Greek flag. But the peak of festivities is reached at the center of Athens with a grandiose military parade. This year’s parade was atypical, though, as it was concluded with national dances from different regions of Greece.

By Driss Ouazzani

Josep Borell, a Spanish politician of the Worker´s Socialist Party (PSOE), was President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007. Here he speaks from his heart on a range of issues that concern Europe, from the financial crisis and euroskepticism to fiscal evasion and TTIP, with special references to Spain and the European South.

We are used to seeing Rita wearing tight and sensual outfits, but this time she has left us without words with this incredible look: a jaw-dropping red dress paired with an incredible rouge in her lips. Her choice of color didn’t come unintentionally. The British singer attended last Wednesday to a Coca Cola anniversary event,…

As NATO and Russian forces increase the size and frequency of their military exercises at the eastern boarder of the European Union, between the momentary disappearance of Vladimir Putin from the surface of the world and the one-year anniversary of the reattachment of Crimea to Russia, Sergei Loznitsa’s Maidan is a soothing break from the…

A European army? But first a Defence Union

By Andrés Ortega Klein

Jean-Claude Juncker can sometimes be very daring. But words count, and should be used with precision. Speaking to a German newspaper, the President of the European Commission has called for a ‘European army’ to help cope with the challenge posed by Russia, to defend European ‘values’ and for the EU to take up its ‘responsibility in the world’ and be able ‘to react to a threat to peace in a Member State or neighbour’. He even said that ‘it would have been useful during the crisis in Ukraine’. But how?

© 2025 Katoikos, all rights are reserved. Developed by eMutation | New Media