Southeast & Eastern Europe

The neoliberal political elite are uninterested in the needs of a society stricken by a pandemic. Their egotism favours informal structures leading to a creeping "Russification" of the country.

Georgia’s escalating political turbulence highlights a crisis in institutional legitimacy in the country. This democratic deficit risks dragging the country into autocratic rule and reproducing the worst elements of its northern neighbour.

Tirana's historic building stock is disappearing. Overnight, listed buildings lose their status and are demolished the next day. Last year, at least ten villas were levelled to the ground. In their place, multi-story residential and commercial buildings are being built by private investors. This development does not benefit the city's residents.

This article tells about the stories of women who moved to Armenia in the third Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) war and whose husbands stayed in the battlefield.

The article is a detailed overview of the internal political situation in Armenia from the Revolution to the war in the fall of 2020. The author analyzes how the policies of the revolutionary government, the coronavirus situation, and the war led to a humanitarian disaster in Armenia.

Aliyev’s popularity reached its peak during the war; the oppositional leaders stopped their criticism, while Aliyev’s actions were perceived as a just and victorious war. The active support of Turkey during the conflict inevitably led to the re-articulation and dynamic perception of Turkey as the “big brother”.

The new ceasefire agreement negotiated between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan has grave geopolitical and domestic consequences for the South Caucasus states. Stefan Meister, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus, explains 10 consequences of the agreement.

“The hell of women is in full swing” is is one of the most pertinent comments on the decision of the governmentally controlled Polish Constitutional Court to further restrict the anyway very limited public access of women to abortions in Poland. Although the measure had been part of the public discourse for years, the timing for its implementation comes partly as a surprise. What does this tell us about the further prospects for the rule of the Law and Justice party?

Ellen Ueberschär demands an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for a sustainable peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh with EU support needed.

Viktor Orbán has been successfully playing a big power game in the last decade, punching far above his weight. But his image as a negative hero in the Western World has clearly backfired now, with Orbán using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to complete his authoritarian regime. Orbán’s moves are not purely the domestic political problems of Hungary – an authoritarian state within the EU could be deadly dangerous for the entire project. Germany has a very important role to play in the current situation.