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Tag: protests

Hollowed out: the slow collapse of Georgia’s city of black gold

The Georgian city of Chiatura was once one of the world’s most important centres of manganese production. Today, many miners are unemployed and struggling to survive, after a sudden shutdown that has plunged the western Georgian city into economic and social freefall. Set against a background of national political turmoil, their struggle exposes how a town built around a single resource, and a single company, is slowly being emptied out.

February 22, 2026 - Poppy Askham

Georgian civil society forced into survival mode

After decades of striving for independence and democratic reform, Georgia is now facing a reversal towards authoritarianism. The ruling Georgian Dream party, mimicking the Kremlin, initiated controversial laws in an accelerated manner to legalize its repressions over independent voices of society. The elimination of independent media outlets, grassroots movements, non-governmental organizations, professional unions, and activists has now become the priority for the Russian-backed government.

September 27, 2025 - Nino Lezhava

Strengthening the civil society’s resilience in Serbia

Despite growing authoritarianism and a shrinking civic space in Serbia, civil society has demonstrated remarkable resilience through grassroots environmental movements, student protests, and citizens’ assemblies. These forms of activism have expanded locally and transnationally, mobilizing citizens, especially the youth, to demand accountability and democratic reforms.

September 27, 2025 - Sofija Popović

As Georgia dismantles its civil service, the Kremlin watches and wins

The internal structure of the Georgian state is undergoing sweeping changes under the current government of Georgian Dream. This is just another part of Tbilisi’s attempts to challenge the country’s institutional ties to the West.

August 25, 2025 - Megi Benia

Rediscovering democracy in Serbia

Even if not acting recognizably political or within the frame of party politics in Serbia, the student movement is slowly and substantially changing the political culture. Students have helped people regain courage and optimism. Although they missed their lectures, they lectured the nation in democracy, solidarity and social responsibility.

Spring has arrived early in Serbia this year, but justice for the victims of the canopy collapse at the train station in Novi Sad still seems far away. The tragic event that took the lives of 16 people and severely injured one on November 1st, 2024 stunned the nation and soon came to symbolize the corruption of the country’s public officials. The initial grief was followed by reflective dismay. How can this seemingly ultramodern building, reconstructed (and dubiously overfunded) to great fanfare just a year ago, be so rotten? Can we trust our politicians about anything?

May 5, 2025 - Andrej Ševo

Is Georgia experiencing its own Belarus moment?

Georgia is currently experiencing one of the most significant waves of protests in its recent history. The intensity of the protests, the high stakes involved and the repression by the authorities evoke comparisons to the 2020 protests in Belarus. However, how similar are these protests, and what can be said about the responses from the Georgian authorities, the European Union and other international actors?

The recent protests in Georgia have seen widespread mobilization across the country, with demonstrators employing various tactics to express their discontent with the government's decision to suspend accession talks with the European Union. In Tbilisi, the capital, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered for consecutive nights, waving Georgian and EU flags while chanting slogans like "Russian slaves" at law enforcement officers.

February 28, 2025 - Giselle Bosse Wicke van den Broek

We need to fight for democracy in Slovakia once more

Interview with Samuel Marec, a Slovak translator, publicist and writer. Interviewer: Nikodem Szczygłowski.

February 3, 2025 - Nikodem Szczygłowski Samuel Marec

Serbian students in the fight against the authoritarian regime

Serbia is currently experiencing a wave of protests following the death of 15 people in Novi Sad. The collapse of a canopy at the city’s railway station has led students to take to the streets across the country to fight for a better future.

January 29, 2025 - Tatjana Đorđević

An open letter from Georgia

New Eastern Europe received this open letter from one of our contributors based in Georgia. We are republishing it here in support of Georgian society and in an effort to help raise awareness of the situation that is taking place there.

December 7, 2024 - Nino Lezhava

Why the “Russian law” is so dangerous for Georgia

There is an apparent attempt to distance Georgia from the geopolitical area which is supported by the vast majority of Georgians and put this Eastern European country in isolation under the claws of Russia. The stakes could not be higher.

May 5, 2024 - Grigol Julukhidze Mariam Gubievi

Belarusian: An extremist language?

In 2008 the Belarusian ministry of information launched a list of extremist materials that are officially banned in the country. Symbolically, the item which opens this list is a CD-ROM disc ostensibly with the recording of a lesson of the Belarusian language. No more details are provided, though some say this entry refers to the 2006 documentary film on the rigged 2006 presidential election. One way or another, what irks the Belarusian government most is the Belarusian language.

October 11, 2021 - Tomasz Kamusella

A guideline to Belarusian repressive methods. Dealing with structural roots of dissent

The 2020 mass protests took place thanks to a vibrant private sector that produced a highly-skilled, well-paid urban class not tied to Lukashenka’s social contract. Lukashenka response can be seen partly in his Soviet upbringing and political career which produced a worldview not devoid of class-based categories. Thus, he attacked the means that sustain the existence of the opposition, with an approach reminiscent of Stalin’s policies towards kulaks.

September 28, 2021 - German Carboni

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