‘This Is War’: The Story Behind Poland’s Bid to Ban Abortion Today
By Lidia Kurasinska – A new book traces religious and ‘traditional values’ networks in Poland and beyond. Now, amidst coronavirus, they’re trying – again – to ban abortion. From openDemocracy. Read more
A Dangerous Chinese Connection
By Martin Ehl – As the pandemic rages, the balance of power in Central Europe is tipping, with Beijing’s thumb on the scales. Read more
Around the Bloc – 14 April
Today’s regional news: Poland remembers Smolensk; still no lockdown in Belarus; Easter in shuttered Czechia; lessons from Dubrovnik’s history; and LGBT in Turkmenistan. Read more.
The Pandemic – a Stress Test of Resilience
By Jiri Sedivy – The Czech Republic has a prime opportunity to take advantage of newly found societal unity and learn from its mistakes to create an effective system of resilience for the future. Read more.
Around the Bloc – 15 April
Highlights from our coverage region: a potential Russian-Ukrainian security breach; ‘no pandemic’ in Tajikistan; Slovenian PM points finger at UEFA head; the politics of Moldovan academia; and birds of prey at risk in CEE. Read more.
Russia’s Hacker Generation
By Vladimir Kozlov – Many Russian-speaking coders grew up in the ’90s, honing skills that made them sought-after personnel in fields from business to espionage. Read more.
Around the Bloc – 16 April
News from around the bloc: economic support for Russian businesses; protests in Poland; Romanian seasonal workers go West; Uzbek cotton; and Russian detention centers. Read more.
Rolling for a Better Future
By Judit Ruprech – A Hungarian wheelchair basketball team is thriving against all the odds. Read more
Around the Bloc – 10 April
Our regional news roundup: detained for fake news in Montenegro; Saudi-Russia oil deal in peril; Albania’s quarantine crooners; Ukrainian media at risk; and a lost generation of Poles in the UK. Read more.
Give Us This Day Our Quarantine Bread
By Edit Inotai – The coronavirus crisis has prompted all manner of acts of solidarity in polarized Hungary – at least in the cosmopolitan cities. From Reporting Democracy. Read more.