This episode is a forward-looking one, which builds on our previous discussion about the economic legacy of the transition.

The In Between Europe podcast is back with a new episode. In this episode the hosts talk to Dóra Győrffy, a professor at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Hungary, about the economic legacy of the transition.

Between October 2017 and April 2019 four reporters doing investigative journalism were killed in Europe: Daphne Caruana Galizia from Malta, Ján Kuciak from Slovakia, Victoria Marinova from Bulgaria, and Lyra McKee from Northern Ireland. Their deaths happened in different circumstances, but they were always related to their profession. Given that investigative reporting is public interest journalism, it should be safeguarded by governments. However this is not always the case in Central and Eastern Europe.

The independent NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warns that in Europe “hatred of journalists has degenerated into violence, contributing to an increase in fear.” Whereas the EU is no longer a safe haven for journalists, the media environment in Central and Eastern Europe has been deteriorating. The Visegrad Four countries have been plummeting in the Freedom House's Freedom of the Press and the RSF's Press Freedom Index rankings since 2015. Hungary dropped from 67th to 87th place on the Press Freedom Index between 2016 and 2019, while Freedom of the Press changed the status of Hungarian media from “free” to “partly free” in 2012.

Since 1989 internationalisation has profoundly influenced the former communist countries, primarily economically but also politically. The unfinished transition process has put into perspective the vast differences between the countries that emerged from the deep shadow of the Soviet Union and the enormous difficulties they had in constructing functioning political and economic structures. Three decades on, the future of the entire region is inexorably linked to the West and the ideas of open markets.

Internationalisation has been one of the critical dimensions of the economic transformation undergone by the former command economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since 1989. Openness and global interactions have had profound direct effects on their growth and development, and entry into international institutions has significantly shaped both domestic policies and institutions. During the past three decades of transition, all former socialist economies have moved decisively towards market-oriented ones.

This episode is the first segment of a two-part series with Talk Eastern Europe (TEE) on the results of the European Parliament elections in Central Europe.

In Between Europe is a podcast dedicated to Central Europe hosted by Zselyke Csaky and Gergely Romsics.

This podcasts looks at how progressive newcomer Zuzana Čaputová secured a surprise victory in Slovakia’s presidential elections this past weekend.

What option is open to Central European intellectuals today? How can they maintain their independent stance and moral principles, yet find a position where they can support democracy in their countries? This is a particularly pressing question today, when Central Europe is again traversing a rocky road paved with nationalism and populism.

At a recent conference of European editors of cultural journals, an English participant remarked, a bit puzzled, how only in Central Europe do people still talk in all seriousness about – and even quarrel passionately over – the role, place and responsibility of intellectuals. First, I felt slightly embarrassed recalling that Kritika & Kontext, the journal I founded in 1996, had devoted a whole issue to “The Intellectual and Society”. The debate then was both serious and passionate and, rereading it now, seems still valid today. Perhaps after all there is a special place for intellectuals in the heaven and hell of Central Europe.

In this episode of the podcast In Between Europe, the hosts Zselyke Csaky and Gergely Romsics tackle the important question of energy security in the Central European region.

This episode of the In Between Europe podcast discusses a new report titled Central European Futures - Five Scenarios for 2025 that maps five possible futures for the region and offers insight as well as recommendations. A true discussion starter!

In Between Europe speaks to Aljaž Pengov Bitenc, a Slovenian journalist and fellow podcast host in this episode. Together they navigate the not-so-choppy waters of Slovenian politics, talk about the outcome of recent elections, the failure of Orbanisation and much more.

After a little break the “In Between Europe” podcast is back with a special on Slovakia. In this episode Zselyke and Gergely talk to Milan Nič, a senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. What has happened in Slovakia since the horrific murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancé this spring? How much influence does Russia have in the country? What direction will Slovak politics take once former prime minister Robert Fico decides to fully retire?