The Church That Stalin Couldn’t Kill
Seventy years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, under orders from Josef Stalin, an illegal “synod” of Kremlin-controlled clergy gathered in the city of Lviv, recently absorbed into the Soviet Union… Read more »
Category: Central/Eastern Europe
Savchenko renews protest fast, dignitaries demand her release
Nadia Savchenko, who has been living on water and limited food since March 4, is suffering from symptoms of starvation, according to a regional Ukrainian consul general who visited… Read more »
Russians not fundamentally illiberal – unlike Putin
Contrary to some analysts’ suggestions that Russian culture and history have fostered a predisposition towards authoritarian rule, new research suggests otherwise. The evidence emerging from a cross-country comparison of attitudes… Read more »
World’s most fragile states threaten global stability
The states of Libya and Syria have deteriorated the most over the last decade, posing the greatest threats to global stability, according to the Fragile States Index. “Reflective of… Read more »
Kosovo edging closer to anarchy?
Scenes of violence at Kosovo’s parliament during which opposition MPs released tear gas to prevent the election of a new president were “extremely worrying“, said the European Union: The protests… Read more »
Russia, Ukraine and the ‘surrealism of realism’
Before the war in Ukraine, respected Russia experts have long claimed that Russia had already become a “post-imperial” state and stressed that they saw no grounds for adversarial relations between… Read more »
Religious politics signal ‘Rough Times for Democratic Change’
Democracy and models of social market economy are facing an unprecedented challenge worldwide, while the influence of religion on political institutions and legal systems is on the rise, says… Read more »
How to control corruption? The European experience
In recent years, the European Union has made an unprecedented effort to transform its periphery by exporting values such as rule of law, democracy and good governance. What should donors… Read more »
‘In search of lost time’: standing up to Putin
Russia and the West are sliding into “a new Cold War,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned the recent 2016 Munich Security Conference, going on to ask: “Are we living… Read more »
Age of European extremes?
The idea of Europe as a political superpower [left] was an illusion, argues historian Walter Laqueur. But a disunited Europe would be even more starkly exposed to the harsh winds… Read more »