Articles and Commentary - New Eastern Europe - A bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs

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Category: Articles and Commentary

Snap elections in Bulgaria: who is ready for political suicide?

While the GERB party was weakened further in the July snap elections in Bulgaria, dismantling the structures it left behind will require the coming together of civil society and remaining political forces.

July 28, 2021 - Radosveta Vassileva

Armenia and Moldova after snap elections: fewer oligarchs, more reforms?

Success at the voting booth for Nikol Pashinyan and Maia Sandu confirmed the re-emergence of a strong public mandate for reformist parties

July 26, 2021 - Denis Cenusa

The great Russian firewall: A dream of late Putinism

The Kremlin is now frantically looking for tools to strengthen its censorship of the internet, which is perceived as a ‘Trojan Horse’ of the American secret services. This ‘besieged fortress’ rhetoric has been accompanied by a flood of repressive laws, increasing surveillance, and attempts to establish state sovereignty over the Runet.

July 22, 2021 - Maria Domańska

Budapest, Beijing, Brussels and beyond: a conversation on Viktor Orbán’s China policy

As China explores new strategic opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán seeks his own advantages from the partnership. Despite the many limitations and lack of public support for closer Sino-Hungarian ties, threatening Brussels with the Chinese dragon yields some results.

July 20, 2021 - Meghan Poff

Russia’s vaccine curse

The Sputnik V vaccine was an incredible achievement for Russian science. The measure of success however, will depend on the ability to vaccinate a majority of the Russian population in order to reach herd immunity.

July 14, 2021 - Joshua Kroeker

The UK in Serbia: Signs of a new regional strategy?

Ongoing debate surrounding the United Kingdom’s relations with the Balkans has naturally been dominated by its withdrawal from the European Union. Despite this, a recent charm offensive in Serbia may prove to be a turning point for Britain’s wider ambitions in the area.

July 12, 2021 - Niall Gray

Will there be light at the end of the Moldovan tunnel?

Politics in Moldova is on the edge of a perpetual crisis. It will be up to a new democratically minded generation to turn the trend.

July 9, 2021 - Oktawian Milewski

Opening Ukraine to investment is the best way to free the country

Ukraine's friends and allies must aid the country in ensuring a fair and level playing field for international investors.

July 7, 2021 - Joseph Hammond

The Belarusian crisis demands a decisive transatlantic response

The detention of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega was a blatant attack on the freedom of air travel. It must also be viewed as a test of Western resolve to stand up against transnational repression.

July 6, 2021 - Francis Shin

The Armenian revolution: a mishandled opportunity

Inept management and inconsistent policies have caused disappointment among an Armenian civil society eager for reform.

July 5, 2021 - Armen Grigoryan

The ongoing German-Polish NATO nuclear sharing nexus

The future of NATO’s nuclear sharing programme in Central and Eastern Europe is closely connected to the political relationship between Washington, Berlin and Warsaw. Dimensions such as geopolitics and infrastructure must also be taken into account.

July 1, 2021 - Aaron Allen

Poland’s changing role on the eastern flank of NATO

Poland has the potential to be a regional leader on NATO’s eastern flank. It will be up to politicians both in Warsaw and Washington to make this a reality.

June 29, 2021 - Jakub Bornio

Partners

Issue 3/2021: Tales from the Baltics

30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union

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Issue 1-2/2021: Whither Democracy?

And what lies ahead for our region...

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Issue 6/2020: Understanding Values in Uncertain Times

Our societies are more polarised than ever before, which makes them more susceptible to disinformation, untruth and conspiracy theories.

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Issue 5/2020: Juggling a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed limitations and weaknesses in nearly all countries around the world.

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issue 4/2020: The Kremlin's Hybrid War

The case of Georgia

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Issue 3/2020: The War in Donbas

Its costs, challenges and the commitment to peace.

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Issue 1-2/2020: Bound to Explode?

Uncertainty, volatility and the relationship between Russia and the West.

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Issue 6/2019: New (Old) Faces?

A true makeover or cosmetic change?

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Issue 5 2019: The Black Sea region

The Black Sea region is quickly becoming a geopolitical battleground which is gaining the interest of major powers, regional players and smaller countries – and the stakes are only getting higher.

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Issue 3-4/2019: Eastern Partnership turns 10

This issue is dedicated to the 10 year anniversary of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership as well as the 30 years since the 1989 revolutions in Central Europe.

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Issue 2 2019: Postmodern Geopolitics

The consequences of the emerging multipolar world.

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Issue 1 2019: Public intellecturals

This issue takes a special look at the role and responsibility of the public intellectual in Central and Eastern Europe today.

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Issue 6/2018: 1918. The year of independence

In the eastern parts of the European continent, 1918 is remembered not only as the end of the First World War, but also saw the emergence of newly-independent states and the rise of geopolitical struggles which are felt until this day.

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Issue 5/2018: What's new with Belarus?

It often seems, at least from the outside, that Belarus remains isolated from the West and very static in its transformation. Yet, despite its relative isolation, Belarus is indeed changing.

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Issue 3-4/2018: Para-states. Life beyond geopolitics

The Summer 2018 issue of New Eastern Europe tackles the complexity of para-states in the post-Soviet space.

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Issue 2/2018: The many faces of Putin

Vladimir Putin is set to win a fourth term as president of the Russian Federation. The March-April 2018 issue takes a deeper look at the consequences of Putin’s presidency and what could eventually come after…

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Issue 5 2017: Homo Post-Sovieticus

We cannot deny there is something idiosyncratic about the former Soviet bloc which links its societies together. Either through common experience or history (or both).

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Issue 3-4 2017: The Balkan Carousel

“The price of Europeanising the Balkans is much higher than the price of the Balkanisation of Europe,” claims Zagreb-based writer Miljenko Jergović in the opening essay to this issue of New Eastern Europe.

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