Volt There Monthly
🇪🇺 Brussels Trip
ðŸ‡ðŸ‡º Hungarian Election Activation
💡 Your thoughts
We are pleased to welcome you to the first newsletter of the VoltThere Foundation. This monthly update will share progress from our projects, developments with our partners, and milestones from our training platform, ECHO. Through this newsletter, we aim to keep our community informed and connected across Europe and beyond.Â
– Maartje Huernink
Brussels Trip
On March 24, VoltThere went to Brussels to attend a policy discussion called “Turning Words Into Action” regarding media support within the European Democracy Shield. This visit provided an opportunity to network and gather insights, especially since we will host a similar event on the 6th May with our Dutch political foundation partners.
Turning words into action
Hosted by the European Partnership for Democracy and the OSCE, the event highlighted the crucial role of independent and resilient media in safeguarding democracy. A key takeaway was the need to meet younger audiences where they are, even on platforms like TikTok, to strengthen media literacy.
Discussions also stressed the importance of sustainable media funding and independence while introducing a broader focus on information threats through the concept of “DIMI,” highlighting that not only foreign (“FIMI”) but also domestic interference demands attention.
Our event in May
On May 6th, we will host a roundtable on free independent media, bringing together experts, journalists, and policymakers from across Europe. We will discuss key challenges and explore how VoltThere, through our ECHO platform, can contribute to solutions.Â
For more details and to sign up go here!
Hungarian Election Activation
Hungary holds parliamentary elections every four years to elect members of the National Assembly, which is the country’s main legislative body. The Hungarian parliamentary elections are held this year on April 12th.Â
Since 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has continuously been in power. These elections might be the first real chance to change this government due to Tisza, the party led by Péter Magyar.
VoltThere aims to engage citizens in diasporas to vote in these upcoming elections. If you also see this as valuable, we would love for you to share these posts in your network!
Instagram Posts
Multiple times in March, we posted informative slideshow posts on Instagram. These posts aimed to inform Hungarians living abroad where to register for the upcoming elections. Different rules apply for Hungarians with or without a permanent Hungarian address, thus it was imperative to inform Hungarians about their rights.Â
We hope many Hungarians benefitted from these posts and registered on time for the elections.
Explainer Video
On account of these elections, VoltThere has also made various informative videos. The full version, with all chapters, is available on our YouTube channel and includes the following:Â the electoral system explained, where to vote and register, the current political climate, disinformation and media control and gerrymandering.Â
These chapters are also cut into smaller videos for Shorts and Reels.