Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from April, 2024
38 years after Chernobyl disaster, 12% of Belarus's territory is still contaminated
The state media reports on the success of Belarusian state-sponsored Chernobyl program that deals with economic, social and environmental consequences of the disaster, but many are skeptical about it
EU Parliament condemns the reintroduction of Georgia's foreign agent bill
The EU resolution is a clear warning to the ruling Georgian Dream: Lest the government drop the bill from the parliamentary discussion, the country's EU accession negotiations will stall.
An activist translates Minecraft, manga, and Harry Potter from Russian into the Chuvash language
Recently, interest in Indigenous languages has intensified in some republics of Russia. Communities appear on various social media, helping to learn languages and use them in everyday life.
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.
Audio deepfakes and AI tricks threaten elections around the world
The rights of the people whose voices and images are being appropriated will need to be more seriously protected.
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.
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.
Family of transgender child talks about problems and support in Moldova
Transgender teens' visits to the doctor are almost nonexistent, and school is a very challenging environment for people who do not conform to traditional gender roles
Moscow photographer captures the capital in military frenzy
For two years now, Alexander Gronsky has been documenting what Moscow looks like and how it lives during the war and how the war intrudes into the urban space.
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.
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
