What did the European Parliament elections reveal in Central Europe?

As four days of voting for the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections closed on May 26, crowds await results from the European Union’s 28 member states and the new composition of the EP for the next five years.  CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2019 – Source: EP

The European parliamentary elections, held in May, came at a time of political soul-searching for the countries of Central Europe – the so-called Visegrad group of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – as they wrestle with European integration, constitutional democracy, and national identity. Though closely tied, the four countries are responding in different ways.

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Fighting for Ethnic and Religious Tolerance in Central Europe: Muneeb’s Story

Muslim in faith, Czech at heart: Muneeb leads fellow participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia at a recent NDI gathering on joint responses to growing religious and ethnic intolerance  

Muneeb has a quiet reserve that gives way to a beaming smile when you ask him about his work and life. A long-time resident of Brno, the capital of the Moravian region of the Czech Republic, Muneeb’s English is halting, so he is quick to turn to Czech, his everyday language for three decades. Muneeb is married, a father, and runs the Czech Center for Muslim Communities. He reserves his native Arabic for family and spiritual matters.

For Muneeb and other longtime residents of Muslim faith—many if not most Czech citizens—the refugee crisis has lifted the curtain on some unpleasant realities. The unprecedented wave of humanity from the greater Middle East has elicited sympathy and aid from many quarters of Czech society. But many express fear about what the presence of foreigners means for their safety and identity—although few if any refugees have actually set foot on Czech soil, much less settled there.

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