For years, minority groups in Poland have been feeling pressure both from the government and society at large. Now with a new governing coalition, there appears to be potential breathing room for many of Poland’s minorities. However, that does not mean that the road ahead is clear or easily navigable.

Poland is often described as a homogenous state – white, Catholic and ethnically Polish. The numbers, at face value, support this idea. This apparent homogeneity is reinforced by the media. Often as a throwaway line when describing Poland’s demographics, or, for more insidious motivations, by those on the far right. This characterization, however, grossly simplifies the story of Poland and its citizenry. Historically, both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Second Polish Republic were heterogeneous states comprising a number of peoples, religions and languages.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine involves more than fighting on the front line. If we are to truly break free from the norms that brought about this conflict, we must interrogate long-established western perceptions concerning Russia’s reality.

The German minority in Russia experienced the repressive policies of both the Russian Empire and Soviet Union first hand. Their legacy is mostly forgotten and suppressed in today’s Russia.

Interview with Darya Churko, a lawyer active in the protests in Belarus, whose research concerns the repressions of the Lukashenka regime. Interviewer: Arkadiusz Zając.

“Not only is Manizha not Russian, but she’s not even a person, she’s… salt!” declared the professor, as he revealed the result of an experiment conducted on the pop star’s skeleton. The research was ordered following widespread public discussion about who exactly Russia was sending to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

Safi sought refuge in Ukraine together with her children following the Kivu Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The process of legalising her family's residence was challenging, but made easier thanks to a helpful migrant community.

Ukraine is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. Like elsewhere on the continent, antisemitism has again reemerged from a past thought long gone. It will be up to the wider society to find a way to confront it.

It has been over 70 years since the essential banning of the Rusyn identity, and to this day these people are still not fully recognised in all of their home countries.

As in the previous elections, Albanian parties in Montenegro have failed to form a joint coalition.

Despite the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the political rights of the so-called “other” citizens are still hampered in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, we can observe the lack of effective mechanisms for the participation of minorities in public life.

National minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have effective access to their rights. The country is still deeply divided between the three constituent ethnicities – Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs – but also a fourth constitutional group, comprising more than a dozen other national minorities, called “the others”. The others are subject to institutional discrimination and they cannot fully participate in the country's political processes and are treated as second-rate citizens.

An interview with Kara K. Hodgson, PhD candidate at the Arctic University of Norway. Interviewer: Mario Giagnorio.

The Kashubians in Poland and the Pomors in Russia. They have different histories, ways of life and problems. However, there are many things uniting them. Primarily it is the sea. This is the second part in a series on the Kashubians and Pomors.