Our weekly digest of articles about emerging Europe published elsewhere this week, all of which caught our eye and all of which are well worth your time. Listing them here, however, does not necessarily mean that we agree with every word, nor do they necessarily reflect Emerging Europe’s editorial policy.
Kaliningrad: The curious case of Vladimir Putin’s piece of EU territory
The Russian region, disconnected from the motherland and deep in EU territory, is both an asset and a vulnerability for the Kremlin.
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Saakashvili drama turns to courtroom
Georgia’s former president will soon face trial for a variety of charges connected to his time in office. But there is widespread concern the proceedings will be more about politics than justice.
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From a secret base in Tajikistan, China’s war on terror adjusts to a new reality
In a remote stretch of land near the Wakhan Corridor not far from Tajikistan’s mountainous border with northeastern Afghanistan, China’s regional ambitions are adjusting to a new reality on the ground.
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Poland is a problem for the EU precisely because it will not leave
Just as there are many ways of leaving the EU, there are many ways of remaining. There is the clean version, in which countries quietly accept the EU’s strictures. Then there is the messy version, where governments foul up the club.
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Why Nord Stream 2 won’t solve the gas or the climate crisis
Bringing in more gas from Russia is not the longer term answer to energy woes in the UK or the EU.
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The lost pop of 1980s Yugoslavia
Pre-civil war, Yugoslavian musicians defied the limitations of technology to make superb electro-pop in an apparent socialist utopia.
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Belarus regime ‘has used football as propaganda’
The regime of the Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko has systematically interfered in the running of the country’s football federation and used the sport as a “pro-government propaganda” instrument, a report has claimed.
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Why Hungary is infected by ultras who are almost impossible to control
There was an air of inevitability when fighting broke out in the away end during Hungary’s 1-1 draw with England at Wembley on Tuesday night.
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Kyrgyzstan: Women’s wrestling team overcomes and inspires
Aisuluu Tynybekova conquered poverty, prejudice and depression to win a nation’s respect.
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How the discovery of a 1941 amateur 8mm camera roll unearthed the history of Warsaw’s ghetto
From March to November 1941, Alfons Ziołkowski, a 30-year-old Polish merchant and motorcycle-racing champion-turned amateur filmmaker, documented the grim realities of the Warsaw ghetto.
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