Southeast & Eastern Europe

From 15-17 September 2021, the Budapest Forum gathered local decision-makers from Europe and beyond on how to strengthen sustainable democracies. Combatting the climate crisis including the participation of civil society will be key to sustain democratic liberties for the generations to come, said Dr. Ellen Ueberschär in her keynote on the panel 'People's power vs Climate crisis'.

Looking back at 16 years of Angela Merkel's Balkan policy, there were ups and downs, but the objective of eventually bringing Serbia closer to the EU has failed. It is now high time for a fresh, new start to Germany‘s relationship to the key enabler or blocker of a European future for the region - Serbia.

More than 50 people were injured in attacks on journalists and civil society in Tbilisi in early July in connection with Pride Week. The German Federal Government and the EU should strongly urge their Georgian partners to address the violence through prompt and comprehensive legal and political action. 

Memorials are more than memories cast in basalt and concrete; as reference points, they are sources of veneration and contempt, at the mercy of political interests and deliberate acts of manipulation.

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”.