Tag: Germany

Blabbing Kati Marton’s book about Angela Merkel

This wasn’t supposed to be one of my vacation reads, but being at my parents’ house, they had it out of the library, so I read it during the few days I’ve spent home in August. First of all, I am a huge fan of Kati Marton’s writing. I am also a huge fan of political biographies, so this book was definitely on my list for later reading. My only complaint is that if I’ve waited, I would have probably wanted to read it in its original language, and not in Hungarian (its Hungarian title is simply ‘Merkel’), but I…

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My year in travels

I have been noticeably absent from this blog in 2018, which I could easily label the worst year of my life. One of the few highlights though were some traveling experiences that I would like to share here. Hope you’ll enjoy and here’s to a better 2019! 🥂  1. Prague in spring Katalin Tarjan (@katalintarjan) által megosztott bejegyzés, Márc 16., 2018, időpont: 10:17 (PDT időzóna szerint) A bejegyzés megtekintése az Instagramon Wonderful #rainy day in #Prague. ☔ 💖 #travel #rain #longweekend #walk #tourists Katalin Tarjan (@katalintarjan) által megosztott bejegyzés, Márc 16., 2018, időpont: 10:17 (PDT időzóna szerint) We visited Prague…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! This week seems to be all about referendums of a highly sensitive nature. One can only guess whatever today’s Spanish vote could mean for the broader world order. The referendum in Catalonia, explained Here is what you need to know about Catalan referendums past and present. Let’s hope all parties will keep cool for the next several days. What’s Next for the Bundestag, Merkel and Germany’s Security Policies? Chancellor Merkel won the election last Sunday but found herself in a difficult political situation. The Trump Administration Will Dramatically Lower Refugee Admittance Based on a Totally False Premise And…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, everybody! Only 51 weeks are left of this year now, so keep being smart with the goals you’ve set for 2017! I have had a busy work and study week, while it is incredibly cold here in Hungary. OK, perhaps nothing compared to Alaska or Canada, but pretty cold for our measures. Perfect for staying in and studying. At least the sun is shining, otherwise it would be really bleak. Here are some of the stories from this first cold week of 2017. A Tale of Two Turkeys 2016 had brought Turkey from being one of the most…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and happy summer everybody! After half a week of vacation at lake Balaton, a wonderful Plácido Domingo concert in Budapest, half a week of staycation in Nagykálló including some old school meteor shower watching, I will be back to work tomorrow. Let’s see what else happened this week. Russia’s Lawful Land Grab This comes on the week when Ukraine claims Russia is arranging military moves on their borders again. Can a New Peacekeeping Force Stabilize South Sudan? UN peacekeeping has a bad reputation these days. In theory I do think it can do wonders, but in practice it…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! And happy Mother’s Day for all the mothers (mine especially! ♥), as we are celebrating it on the first Sunday of May on this side of the pond. Speaking of which, happy May too! That’s a whole lot of happy occasions! 🙂 And these are for your reading pleasure today: What the Failure of the Geneva Talks Means Forcing Assad to step down might be an uneasy task to say the least, but finding a worthy and capable successor proves even more difficult. One Europe, from the Arctic to Lampedusa Why I have only recently come across Federica…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! I have spent some wonderful days in the UK and had a fantastic time at the U2 concert at TheO2, London on Tuesday. You can check out some of my photos and videos on my Instagram. Then of course, it was back to work for the second half of the week. Well, how about this? And how about other world leaders following the example? Because it’s 2015. And for some more inspiration on gender equality you should watch Emma Watson’s interview with Malala at Into Film Festival, if you haven’t yet. Let’s see what else happened this week……

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#UNGA70 General Debate digest Part II.

Again, better late, than never, right? This time, I am moving forward with the spearkers of the second half of the general debate. I was pleasantly surprised by the speech of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic of Croatia, it almost consoled me for the absence of the British Prime Minister, she is such a good speaker. I wanted to follow her speech of course for the Croatia’s involvement in the European refugee situation. In solving this crisis, she emphasized that we will have to find balance between national, regional and global interests.  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas elaborated on the Palestinian issue in…

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Sunday Smack

Happy weekend, everybody! I am just after the final exam of The Changing Global Order on Coursera (more about it later in my MOOC series), let’s just say the last few days felt like exam season all over again, but in the end I have earned a certificate. (Also, note to self: summer is NOT for learning!) Today was all about catching up on my reading that got quite neglected besides learning, meaning I had to read several hundred posts in a day. Here’s the few of them that made it to my weekly round-up. Why the “Snap Back” Provision…

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Ukraine crisis: what is in the Minsk ceasefire agreement?

Ukraine crisis: what is in the Minsk ceasefire agreement? The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France agreed on a deal in Minsk aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Click for details of the agreement, translated from a Russian-language document that was handed to reporters.

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