Reporting Democracy

04/07/2025

⌛️ 6 days left!

Apply by July 10 for the Reporting Democracy Travel and Reporting grant!

If you are a journalist based in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, or Slovakia, send us your application now:

BIRN’s Reporting Democracy Travel & Reporting Programme invites journalists from the Visegrad region to apply for a grant that covers professional fees and field reporting expenses. This is a unique opportunity to report from the Balkans and gain deeper insights into the region.

04/07/2025

Hungary has been dealing with the aftermath of last weekend’s Budapest Pride parade, when nearly 200,000 people marched through the capital on Saturday in the largest-ever demonstration of its kind in defiance of a government ban.

Elsewhere, Czechia opposes EU climate targets as hottest day of year recorded; more political charges seen pressed against another senior Slovak investigator; and Poland imposes temporary border controls with Germany over migration.

02/07/2025

Czech PM Petr Fiala vows to change the internal rules of procedure governing the lower house of parliament if his ruling coalition wins the October election, amid growing criticism of a "dysfunctional" Chamber of Deputies.

Background 👇

Calls to reform the internal proceedings of the Czech Chamber of Deputies multiply as the lower house of parliament’s deep inefficiencies take their toll on MPs’ spirits and citizens’ trust.

02/07/2025

Czechia looks set to become the first in Europe to legalise psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms – for medical purposes. Amid a growing mental health crisis in the country, experts say the bold move offers new hope for sufferers.
Read more:

Czechia looks set to become the first in Europe to legalise psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms – for medical purposes. Amid a growing mental health crisis in the country, experts say the bold move offers new hope for sufferers.

30/06/2025

The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge to Viktor Orban’s 15-year rule.

Read more:

The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge to Viktor Orban’s 15-year rule.

28/06/2025

Several thousand people take part in Budapest Pride despite the Hungarian government’s ban. So far, the police are refraining from intervening despite previous threats to. The march is being led by Budapest’s liberal mayor Gergely Karacsony and about 70 MEPs are in attendance.



https://balkaninsight.com/2025/03/27/hungarys-ban-on-pride-has-little-to-do-with-being-gay/

27/06/2025

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has framed the latest non-binding referendum on Ukraine’s EU membership, dubbed Voks2025, as a major success for his government.
Read more:

Elsewhere, Slovakia agrees to NATO spending target of 5 per cent of GDP; ex-premier Babis’ legal troubles continue in Czechia; and Poles are becoming less supportive of Ukraine’s cause.

26/06/2025

BIRN’s Reporting Democracy Travel & Reporting Programme invites journalists from the Visegrad region to apply for a grant that covers professional fees and field reporting expenses. This is a unique opportunity to report from the Balkans and gain deeper insights into the region.

26/06/2025

Journalists based in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, hurry up and apply for Reporting Democracy Travel and Reporting grants!

You can receive 2,500 euros for producing high-quality, original journalism: https://birn.eu.com/news-and-events/balkan-dispatch-apply-now-for-birns-travel-and-reporting-grants/

Application deadline: July 10

BIRN’s Reporting Democracy Travel & Reporting Programme invites journalists from the Visegrad region to apply for a grant that covers professional fees and field reporting expenses. This is a unique opportunity to report from the Balkans and gain deeper insights into the region.

25/06/2025

Czech mental health care reforms, replacing asylums with community care, have stalled due to the politicisation of the issue. What might a new government after the autumn election bring to this vexed issue?

Read more: https://balkaninsight.com/2025/06/25/czech-psychiatric-care-reform-down-but-perhaps-not-out/

Photo: Tiago Bandeira on Unsplash

23/06/2025

Polish President Andrzej Duda has hailed his country’s secret services for their role in thwarting an attack on Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky last year while he was in Rzeszow, Poland’s main hub for sending military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

"We had to provide security, and no attack occurred. That clearly shows his safety was guaranteed," Duda told a press conference during a visit to Montenegro.

Photo: EPA-EFE/Pawel Supernak POLAND OUT

23/06/2025

The Municipal Court in Prague has ruled that a new museum dedicated to iconic Czech Art Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha, opened earlier this year by the painter's descendants, must change its name.

The ruling comes after a long intellectual property legal dispute with another, older Mucha Museum located a few hundred metres away. The decision is not final and can be appealed.

Background story:

The opening of a new museum in Prague dedicated to Alfons Mucha has kicked off another round of rows over the notoriously contested legacy of the iconic Czech painter.