Stories about Eastern & Central Europe
Turning point? The ethnicization of social issues and what Indigenous communities think about it in Russia
Research by Vlada Baranova claims that the war in Ukraine has led to the ethnicization of conflicts and confrontation between the federal authorities, perceived as “Russian,” and the Indigenous population.
Jelena Milušić and Merima Ključo: Balkan soul expressed through music
Combining the specific counter-alto singing with accordion enables two musical ladies to give new life to cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from XIX century lyrical poetry to Sephardic Jewish folk songs.
Romani language edition of the Dikan comics published in Serbia
The latest two issues of popular Serbian magazine Politikin Zabavnik include inserts with the comics Dikan, for the first time in Serbian and Romani.
Azerbaijan's FOMO moment
As it turned out, the meeting was indeed focused on Armenia and had nothing to do with Azerbaijan unlike claims leveled by the government of Azerbaijan ahead of the meeting.
Global Voices call for stories about Ukraine
Global Voices is piloting a project of paid and commissioned stories about Ukraine by Ukrainians regardless of current location. Stories can be pitched and written in Ukrainian, English or Russian.
Serbian movie about Roma singer become a hit in several Balkan countries
Biographical movie dramatizing the life and career of Džej Ramadanovski, a Serbian singer of Romani ethnicity, has achieved commercial success in several neighboring Balkan countries.
Romani diasporas are now more marginalised in Russia than in the late USSR
There were few educational and social programs for Romani people in the USSR, and later in Russia, and there's little hope that any will be introduced in the near future.
‘We march bravely': Transgender Day of Visibility marked in North Macedonia
Transgender people in North Macedonia refuse to be silenced and continue to struggle for full integration in society, marking the International Transgender Day of Visibility with a march in Skopje.
Ukrainian men running from mobilization: An uncomfortable topic no-one wants to discuss
“How to flee from Ukraine to Moldova” is googled by women, children, and the elderly, but also men of military age who can't or don't want to fight
What is behind the suicides of LGBTQ+ people in refugee camps in the Netherlands?
There have been at least four reported case of suicide among Russian-speaking refugees in the Netherlands over the past year
Georgian Dream's fight against LGBTQ+ people
Georgian Dream's anti-LGBTQ+ narrative is nothing new. Homophobia has been part of the party's toolkit in the years since the party took over the country's leadership in 2012.
The right-wing shock doctrine at the Finnish-Russian border
A group of human rights and migration researchers explains how the proposed Finnish law on asylum-seekers violates the country’s international obligations and human rights law.
Teenager with Muslim background saved over 100 people in Moscow concert hall terrorist attack
Fifteen-year-old Islam Khalilov, who works part-time as a cloakroom attendant, led more than a hundred people out of Crocus Concert Hall during the terrorist attack
The song about Belarusian migrants, ‘Can I Come with You,’ has become an anthem for homeless animals. Where did it come from?
The song "Can I Come with You" has gone viral on Russian language TikTok: users of the social network are sharing stories about homeless animals set to the song.
A recycled narrative of peace amid ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan impasse
Two wars, a military operation and a deadly flare-up later, the two countries are still negotiating. At the heart of the negotiations is a bilateral agreement proposed by Azerbaijan in 2022.
Deepfakes and the risks from the growing use of video fraud
" ... [T]he truth is on the edge of "death" because, with the increase of deepfakes in circulation, it will be more and more difficult to understand what the truth is."
How the North Caucasus became one of Russia’s arms for imperial policy in Ukraine
The region may may seem loyal to the central authorities, but it took Kremlin about a hundred years of repression and killing tens of thousands of locals to achieve this.
Lotteries, dressed-up figures, and other peculiar entertainment at the Putin's sham elections
Current regime needs people to come to the polls in order to show the regime's legitimacy inside the country. Authorities find ways of 'entertainment' that would attract people to vote.
Women in Moldova are better educated but earn less and marry earlier
Some National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova's data about women living in Moldova today
New song titled ‘Mom has a Secret’ features mothers from Russia who are anti-war activists
All of the women featured in the video for the song, as well as Monetochka herself, are mothers but also high profile activists who oppose the war and the regime.
Yulia Navalnaya against Vladimir Putin
But who is Yulia Navalnaya? She has a familiar face: Alexey's participated in a lot of his rallies, was by his side when he was poisoned.
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