Stories about Eastern & Central Europe
Sevdah: The perfect marriage of preservation and innovation
Sevdalinka (also known as sevdah) is the folk musical expression characteristic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has taken deep roots in the musical cultures of several other Western Balkans countries.
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.
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.
Despite escalating sanctions, key machines imported from East Asia sustain Russia’s war effort in Ukraine
Despite sanctions against Moscow in place as early as 2022, Asia remains a major source of key imports for Russia's war effort, including in the area of dual use machines.
Anger and grief as Russians in Armenia and Georgia mourn Navalny’s death
At the time of writing this story, at least 387 people have been detained at events across 39 Russian cities since Navalny's death, according to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info.
We can do more to help Ukraine
Two years and thousands of sanctions later, Moscow’s war capacity remains intact — Russia keeps bombing Ukraine as much, if not more,than in February 24, 2022 when the full scale invasion began.