– On April 3rd, Turkey purchased a S-400 missile system from Russia in a move that angered fellow NATO members. In response, the United States suspended Turkey’s involvement in the F-35 fighter jet program, the largest and most expensive weapons program … Continue reading Turkey buys Russian weapons, and a director freed from house arrest
– Andriy Kobolyev, the CEO of Ukraine’s oil monopoly Naftogaz, announced on March 1st that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague had ordered Russia to compensate the company for the assets Naftogaz lost following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in … Continue reading State defence graft scandal, and presidential election finalists
When the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, now the Republic of North Macedonia, declared independence in 1991, a new state emerged but kept many of the habits of its communist past, including a highly centralized government. In political science, centralization … Continue reading When will the grip loosen? Centralized government in North Macedonia
– In February, the Hungarian government launched an “information” campaign featuring posters targeting billionaire and liberal George Soros and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (see the February edition of What’s Up Hungary?). The government also sent letters to … Continue reading EPP suspends Fidesz and Orbán’s village is getting an artificial lake and an island
Police station architecture in the Republic of Georgia is indicative of one the most consistent political themes of the country since 2004 – transparency. With the election of Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia entered a period of rapid political reform. Central to … Continue reading Georgian Democracy: Pulling the blinds on a glass house
– On March 3rd, hundreds of protesters gathered in Gdynia, Katowice, Łódź, Warsaw, and Wrocław in support of women’s rights such as equal pay and the right to an abortion. Protesters displayed counter-patriarchal slogans like “Sex, not sexism” and showed support for … Continue reading NATO anniversary, and LGBT+ rights controversy
The last time Ukrainians went to the polls, in 2014, the incumbent president Viktor Yanukovych had fled to Russia and Kiev was recovering from months of public protest. Oligarch Petro Poroshenko won the presidency on the fumes of the Euromaidan … Continue reading Voices on the street: young Ukrainians on the 2019 election
The first President of independent Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, symbolically resigned on March 19th, 2019, at 19:00 Astana time. His resignation was sudden and shocking, and we worried about what would happen next. On March 20th, the new Acting President, Kasym-Zhomart … Continue reading Living in ambiguity: Nazarbayev’s resignation has not been life-changing
Three weeks ago, Estonians thought they were about to witness history – the country was on the verge of electing its first ever female Prime Minister. Chairwoman Kaja Kallas and the liberal market-oriented Reform Party were dubbed the irrefutable winners … Continue reading The crest and break of Estonia’s pink wave
This article is the first in a series of articles written by the graduates of 2018’s Solidarity Academy and re-published in collaboration with Lossi 36. Solidarity Academy is an international project aimed at inspiring and supporting the development of the young intellectuals … Continue reading Ukranians in the Polish-German borderland
