Michael Meyer-Resende
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meyer-resende.bsky.social
Michael Meyer-Resende
@meyer-resende.bsky.social
Writer and Executive Director, Democracy Reporting International. Lisbon & Berlin.
Consensus is gemütlich. Debate is inspiring.
This will be how most media will report the case. But seems to me the judgement is more nuanced and more in line with no need for equal form ("marriage"), but need for equal treatment to married couples (Poland could introduce another category for foreign same sex couples, that gives equal rights).
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.

🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.

This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Michael Meyer-Resende
Ukrainian democracy got a standing ovation in Berlin tonight during a wide ranging conversation about justice, EU accession, and the difference between fighting for freedom and inheriting it, w/ @avalaina.bsky.social, @mattian.bsky.social, @rebharms.bsky.social, and @meyer-resende.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Why does this get so little coverage? It's the destruction of humanity's minimum rules.
An absolute scandal compounded in this case by failure of French government and EU institutions to forcefully react and sanction in turn those who have sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors. Makes a total mockery of FR/EU's repeated commitment to the rule of law/ICC

www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...
November 24, 2025 at 7:53 AM
A "peace deal" in which the attacked country is asked to reduce its troops, to withdraw from its strongest defensive position and to rely on the word of an attacker who has constantly broken its words. That's not a peace deal, it's a launch pad for the next attack.
November 21, 2025 at 9:57 PM
This is a big story for Ukraine and Europe and not yet covered properly. I hope European diplomacy goes into overdrive. To divert from Epstein, Trump may trade away key Ukrainian and European interests to Russia to present a "deal".
⚡️US holding secret peace talks with Moscow to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Axios reports.

The White House and Moscow have been secretly working on a proposal to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Axios reported on Nov. 18, citing U.S. and Russian officials.
US holding secret peace talks with Moscow to end Russia's war against Ukraine, Axios reports
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian Envoy Kirill Dmitriev have extensively discussed the 28-point peace plan, an unnamed U.S. official said.
kyivindependent.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Immer wieder erstaunlich, wie einerseits Vereine und gemeinnützige Organisationen überreguliert werden (wir wurden von Behörden schon zu unserem Konsum von Toilettenpapier befragt) und in anderen Fällen gar nichts geprüft wird, ob in Berlin oder Brüssel (#Qatar-Gate).
„Arbeitsnachweise über angelaufene oder abgeschlossene Projekte gibt es nicht. Aber immerhin eine Handynummer auf der Webseite. Also ein Anruf dort – mit mäßigem Erfolg. Zwar nimmt jemand ab, legt aber schnell wieder auf.“
Ich war ca. 12 Jahre im Vorstand des Württembergischen Kunstvereins in Stuttgart. Ich weiß genau, wie fucking aufwändig Antragstellungen für Staatsknete (sei es Kommune, Land, Bund o. EU) sind & wie sorgfältig das normalerweise geprüft wird. Das hier ist schlicht Korruption.

taz.de/Gefoerderte-...
November 7, 2025 at 10:47 AM
So disinformation online IS a problem? I am confused.
HOSTIN: You don't believe in QAnon anymore? You've changed?

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: No, I haven't changed. I was a victim just like you were of media lies and stuff you read on social media
November 5, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Result doesn't support the view that government participation always helps far-right parties (but I am doubtful about such "lessons" whatever they say. Too many variables, too different contexts.)
⚡️Dutch liberal party overtakes far-right nationalists in snap parliamentary election.

The far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), whose leader Geert Wilders has argued against aid to Ukraine, lost nearly a third of its seats in parliament, according to exit polls.
Dutch liberal party overtakes far-right nationalists in snap parliamentary election
The far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), whose leader has argued against aid to Ukraine, lost nearly a third of its seats in parliament, according to exit polls.
kyivindependent.com
October 29, 2025 at 10:53 PM
If you think that "pure majority should rule", you may find out that there isn't one.
Fun fact: You could form a coalition with 12 out of 15 parties that will enter parliament and still not get a majority 🫠
October 29, 2025 at 10:44 PM
These trends are more interesting than "party A wins". Dutch elections are not a horse race, doesn't matter much if a party "wins or loses" narrowly. What matters is which parties can/want to build a coalition.
Here's how I see the Netherlands election exit poll results in context:

Far-right parties:
Second-best since WWI (after 2023)

Parties to left of D66:
Worst result since WWI

D66 and all to its left:
Third-worst since 1967 (after 2023, 2002)

Parties to left of Labour/GreenLeft:
Worst since 1998
October 29, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Good wrap-up of #Portugal's local election. The two main left and right parties dominate the results. The Communist party lost and the far-right party hoped for a lot more support.

portugaldecoded.substack.com
PORTUGAL DECODED | Substack
English-language roundup of the week's most important stories in Portugal. Enter your email below and select 'None' to subscribe for free. Click to read PORTUGAL DECODED, a Substack publication with t...
portugaldecoded.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The Draghi report makes the US the measure of success. That looks increasingly questionable. The measure of access should be the world-beating economies inside the EU, such as the Netherlands and the Nordics. My opinion in the @euobserver.com
euobserver.com/eu-political...
The Draghi report is not holy scripture
The problem is that scripture is beyond criticism. The Draghi report should not be. Ten months into the Trump presidency it has not aged well, and the report should be debated, challenged, and improve...
euobserver.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Maybe enough anxiety and handwringing about drone sightings and instead decisions and countermeasures.
October 1, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Republican house member requests platform to censor hate speech around Kirk's murder. In the EU hate speech should also be removed if it is illegal.

clayhiggins.house.gov/wp-content/u...
clayhiggins.house.gov
September 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Was rechtswidrig ist, entscheidet am Ende ein Gericht. X verhindert, dass es dazu überhaupt kommt.
X, die Plattform von Elon Musk, missachtet geltendes Recht in Deutschland und Österreich - @arminwolf.at hat das für Österreich in einem Rechtsstreit aufgezeigt

Das passiert auch in Deutschland, wo X einfach eine deutsche Regelung nicht akzeptieren will und als rechtswidrig darstellt

Siehe:
SA-Parole für X kein Problem: Musk will den Ermittlern weiter Daten verweigern
Elon Musks Netzwerk reagiert auf die t-online-Recherchen zu Ermittlungen und legt nach: In einer SA-Parole sieht X kein Problem.
www.t-online.de
September 9, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Reposted by Michael Meyer-Resende
Today,
after one of the biggest attacks on Ukraine,
I saw an appalling indifference from the world.

Thank you to those who still care.
There are truly so few of you.
September 7, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Hochmut und vage Begriffe. Das erfolglose Dauerrezept gegen Rechtsextremismus.
September 6, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Kein guter Tag für Berlin. Hoffentlich feiern wir in Berlin irgendwann mal wieder etwas Zukunftsweisendes.
#Stadtautobahn
Heute wird in Berlin die teuerste Autobahn Deutschlands eröffnet. 720 Mio.€ hat der 16. Bauabschnitt der A100 gekostet, das sind 225.000 €. pro Meter. Zum Vergleich: Für das gleiche Geld hätte man einfach 49 Jahre den Berliner Radverkehr finanzieren können. Nicht zu glauben...(1/2)
August 27, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Michael Meyer-Resende
🎤Civil society leaders @neusvidal.bsky.social @martapardavi.bsky.social & @meyer-resende.bsky.social
🎤Legal advocate Rachel Cohen
🎤Journalist @candundar.bsky.social
They'll discuss how we can build lasting networks of courage & support in times of democratic decline.

Learn more here: bit.ly/4mGwJIv
August 13, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Michael Meyer-Resende
🇩🇪⚖️My dashing team-mate @ninotsereteli.bsky.social and my boss @meyer-resende.bsky.social for EUobserver on the hot mess that the usually boring process of appointing German Federal Constitutional Court judges has become recently. The age of judicial innocence is over, and messy politics are here.
August 12, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Finally. Far too late though.
The German Government will, until further notice, authorise no military equipment exports that can be used in the Gaza Strip.

Full statement by Chancellor Merz 👇
August 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Michael Meyer-Resende
🇵🇱⚖️Adam Bodnar is out as the Polish Minister of Justice/Prosecutor General, why? First, being a good academic/human rights defender doesn't necessarily make you a good politician; second, you can't please everyone who wants to be pleased; third, timid people aren't suited for savage times. 1/
July 23, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Ukraine's hastily adopted anti-anti-corruption law is a massive disappointment to its friends. We are in solidarity with our partner organisations that demand a repeal. #Ukraine
July 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM
This is a big blow to all friends of Ukrainian democracy. It weakens the country's position in the war.
Huge self-inflicted sabotage of Ukraine's path towards EU integration! Whether civil society w EU backing manages to stop this attack on the anticorruption institutions will determine the future strength of EU conditionality and anticorruption efforts. If Zelensky signs the law, it'll signal that..
⚡️ Update: NABU head asks Zelensky to veto bill destroying independence of anti-corruption agencies.

NABU chief Semen Kryvonos warned that the bill recently passed by the parliament threatens Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration efforts.
July 22, 2025 at 5:18 PM