HomeOp-Ed
Op-Ed
On Display
“The Hungary Model” – Illiberal Tactics for Weakening Independent Media
Press freedom in Central Europe is under renewed threat. Yet there are no systematic arrests of journalists as in Belarus or Turkey, less of the blatant acts of censorship common in Russia and few of the gruesome killings of reporters that are common in autocratic countries around the world. Instead, they are now following the Hungary model.
On Display
Mayday, Mayday! Austrian Democracy in Danger!
As criticism and corruption allegations pile up against his administration, the biggest cause for concern is Sebastian Kurz’s deliberate attempts to undermine the nation’s checks and balances.
Op-Ed
Transparency Requires Civil Courage
With the dismantling of Official Secrecy Laws in Austria, real transformation will require a change of culture.
General
Arnold Suppan on the Treaties of Saint-Germain & Trianon
Settled behind closed doors a century ago, these devastating treaties were greeted with celebratory gunfire across France, leaving Central Europe in tatters and echoes of disharmony across the continent.
On Display
BioNTech: Stop Talking About Their ‘Migration Background’
What at first sounds like a compliment, in fact, builds a mental frame separating immigrants from everybody else, when such backgrounds have become a self-evident part of our lives.
International
CEE – The Coronavirus Has Revealed Central Europe’s Chaotic Governance
What remains of public trust in the state is vanishing rapidly as the coronavirus roars back into the region.
Op-Ed
What Europe Can Learn From Joe Biden’s Victory
There are lessons we can draw from Biden's election that can help the European Union better deal with far-right populism.
Culture
Protected: Happy Birthday, Ludwig van Beethoven!
This year we celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday. This brand-new video series takes you on a musical pilgrimage through Beethoven’s Vienna.
Fall 2020
What “Rule of Law” Means Since the EU Budget Summit
On the surface, the EU budget summit smoothed over the friction between Brussels and the bloc’s problem children. Deeper down, the rift may be growing.
Fall 2020
Should Fashion Seek Diversity?
“Inclusive sizing” and “disabled-friendly” clothing have joined the buzzwords of conscious consumerism. Does this make sense for an industry built on the allure of unattainability? What is beauty anyway?
Online
Integration and Identity – Who is a “Real” Austrian?
On the eve of the Vienna mayoral elections, questions of voting rights and double citizenship – of Heritage and 'Heimat' – are again dominating the agenda.
Online
I’m an Austrian Who Can’t Live in Austria
With a life both in the U.S. and Vienna, Gabriel Foguel wants dual citizenship, but the Austrian government won’t allow it.
Fall 2020
How Disease Detectives Help Us Beat COVID-19 By Tracking Superspreaders
The crucial role of public health and contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online
How Austria Has – and Hasn’t – Changed
The British Ambassador to Austria, Leigh Turner, takes stock of how Vienna has and hasn’t changed since his first posting to the city in the 1980s.
Op-Ed
Who Protects Women from Domestic Violence?
Under COVID-19 lockdown, domestic violence has predictably gone up. Intervention helps.
Op-Ed
During the Corona Crisis, a Fiat Can Become a Critical Food Pipeline
COVID-induced creative charity or how the boot of a Fiat became a critical food pipeline.
Online
Why the EU Recovery Fund Is a Big Deal – for Europe & for the Climate
The recent budget-corona negotiations could lead to the creation of a fiscal union and a greater emphasis on sustainability.
Coronavirus
Central Europe Beat COVID-19 – Will Their Democracies Survive?
Like other “black swan” events in the past, COVID-19 has challenged
our democracies and changed the way we live.
Online
Poland: Homophobia and TV-Propaganda Secured Andrzej Duda’s Reelection
While the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) remains in power, opposition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski has forced the president to take notice.
Coronavirus
Lessons of the Pandemic | Italy, America, and Covid-19
The crisis has revealed us – for better and worse – to ourselves; the question now is what we will do next.
Online
Liberal Freedom and Its Flip Side
The renewed struggle against discrimination is really two struggles: one about rights, the other about opinion.
Coronavirus
Living Through the Pandemic in the World’s Most Livable City
A public international lawyer with 25 years at the UN recounts her experience of living through the pandemic in Vienna.
Expat's Voice
HERSTORY – Metropole x Women of Vienna
Zilla Boyer a political scientist, campaigner and pod-cast creator who joined WoV in search of adventure when she relocated here almost three years ago.
Op-Ed
Opinion | What if Foreigners Had Voting Rights?
Having two homes is confusing, and the choice between convenience and (fragile) ideology, even more so.
Op-Ed
HERSTORY – Metropole x Women of Vienna
In this series, METROPOLE partners up with the Women of Vienna network to bridge communities and celebrate diversity, introducing some of their incredible members and bringing you a slice of Herstory.
Online
From Yesterday to Today
With Turkish bombs falling on Kurdish cities in Northeast Syria, a young woman from Rojava tells the story of her town and people
Op-Ed
Democracy’s Second Wind in CEE
METROPOLE and GLOBSEC will be cooperating on a range of activities, initiatives and events in the upcoming months to promote democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
Online
Closing KAICIID, Silencing Dialogue
Author and activist Heather Wokusch who has partnered with KAICIID takes on the Austrian Parliament’s decision to close the interreligious center in Vienna
Expat's Voice
17 Million Mobile EU Citizens Deserve a Political Voice
Those of us who reside in another member state live more “European” lives than anyone. Yet we feel disenfranchised.
Op-Ed
Pro & Con | June 2019
The EU plans to abolish daylight savings time in 2021. A good idea?
Time for Change
Good riddance, I say! The benefits of Daylight Saving Time (DST) h...
Online
The Price of Independence
The FPÖ would like nothing better than to hobble the independence of Austria’s public broadcaster, the ORF. Now Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian ...
Opinion
Growth and Its Discontents
Central Europe has experienced a soaring economy in the last two decades. Yet the disaffection of many shows the limits of what economic growth a...
Opinion
The US Midterms and the Consequences for Europe
The world has watched the US midterm elections spellbound. But for Europe, even the Democratic victory in the house of representative might not bring ...
Opinion
Op-Ed | The Brexit Endgame
The outcome may indicate how the dialectic between supranationalism and nationalism will play out in much of the rest of the world.
The United Kingdo...
July/August 2016
Op-Ed: Confessions of a British Casting Agent in Vienna
Austria still needs to stamp its identity on supporting roles in international film and TV productions. One Brit in town has a mission to help things ...
June 2016
Op-Ed: Man Without a Country
Breaking its election promises, a Tory government has left expat Britons out in the cold
Disenfranchisement is an ugly word. As a UK citizen with...
May 2016
Op-Ed: The SPÖ’s Family Feud
Austria’s refugee crisis has not only polarized the political landscape, it has split the country’s ruling party right down the middle
As every seas...
April 2016
Op-ed: In Brexit, We All Lose
Britain, our role model in language, constitutional law, education and business, would gradually feel farther and farther away
I want to encourag...
March 2016
Op-Ed: The Short Long Term
With Central European governments constantly changing the rules, it has become impossible for families or businesses to plan for the future
A qua...
February 2016
Op-Ed: The Danger of a Weak Europe
How Europe’s economic and demogrphic choices made in 2016 will impact the economies of Europe and the U.S.
In 1973, US Secretary of State Henry K...
December/January 2015/2016
Op-ed: The Art of Capital Flight
What impact will China’s slowdown have on the red-hot contemporary art market?
For emerging-market investors, art has become a critical tool for faci...
November 2015
Opinion | Life After Schengen
Slaughtering the EU’s sacred cow could renew confidence in the Union
Throughout Europe’s refugee crisis, warnings have proliferated about the threat...