Stories about Eastern & Central Europe
29 May 2020
A conversation with Udmurt language digital activist Artyom Malykh
"My primary motivation is to keep the language of my community alive. Udmurt must be used in as wide a variety of spaces as possible in order to ensure that...
Is China's ‘House of Cards’ in the Czech Republic beginning to wobble?
Public scepticism over Chinese influence campaigns and aggressive diplomacy is empowering anti-Beijing politicians.
28 May 2020
Russian doctors’ union launches ‘map of problems’ faced by medics during COVID-19
Russia's medical staff are increasingly vocal about hospital conditions and a lack of personal protective equipment during the pandemic. This interactive map allows them to tell the world about it.
27 May 2020
Kremlin expands online voting possibilities amid COVID-19 fears
After the Russian government passed a bill expanding possibilities for voting online and by post, journalists and digital rights activists have started to question its potential for abuse.
22 May 2020
Slovenian protesters channel Katie Melua to explain anti-corruption bicycle movement
"There are 10,000 bicycles in Ljubljana. That's a fact. That's how mad the people are."
21 May 2020
Fighting and writing for Moldova's place in the pantheon of world literature
"Foreign publishers doubt the literati of this small and little known place. Can they really write something remarkable? Of course they can!" exclaims Moldovan novelist Iulian Ciocan.
20 May 2020
COVID-19-themed Global Voices story stars in Czech translation competition
Moderator Jan Faber spoke with GV about record-breaking participation in this year's edition, the future of translation and common errors that foreigners make when writing in Czech.
18 May 2020
Journalists in Russia's regions catalogue the ‘unseen victims’ of COVID-19
The wider social and economic consequences of COVID-19 have destroyed livelihoods and sometimes ended lives. Coronavictims.ru exists to catalogue what its founders call the "unseen" victims of the pandemic.
17 May 2020
‘We're staying home today’: The unexpected anthem of Russia's COVID-19 lockdown
"We're staying home today," a 2017 song by Moscow band Hadn Dadn, has captivated a country cautiously emerging from lockdown.
15 May 2020
Former Yugoslavia's brutalist architecture shines in new Star Wars fan film
"If it was gonna be a 'Serbian' story, or an 'ex-Yugoslav' story, let's face it -- it couldn't be a story about royalty."
13 May 2020
Monumental differences: Prague, Moscow trade barbs over World War Two
"Did in fact all Czechs then realize what kind of Russians saved their city?"
‘Corona Ciao': Parody of old revolutionary song goes viral in the Balkans
Insult to revolutionary heritage, paean to middle-aged tavern-going privilege or just a bit of fun?
11 May 2020
Russians in lockdown celebrate a subdued Victory Day online
There were no parades this year. But the RuNet's resourcefulness prepared Russia well to commemorate Victory Day in lockdown — seamlessly converting the largest public holiday into a mass online event.
8 May 2020
Life's a beach: How COVID-19 is changing tourism on the Albanian coast
Albania's tourism minister believes the season can be saved, but it will be a very different kind of season.
27 April 2020
Russians under lockdown (re)create famous artworks online
The Izoizolyatsiya photo challenge has become a national obsession. To the RuNet's delight, thousands of Russians are recreating famous artworks using ordinary household items — in hilarious and often bizarre...
25 April 2020
Out of 20,000 COVID-19 cases in the Balkans, more than a third are in Serbia
In Serbia, the government first ignored COVID-19 and even made fun of it.
24 April 2020
Prosecutions mount as Russia intensifies fight against COVID-19 ‘fake news’
Russia has made sharing "fake news" a criminal offence. Rights activists fear that charges will be brought against anybody questioning the state's account of the coronavirus pandemic.
22 April 2020
Six false statements by Serbian government officials on COVID-19
Government officials are helping spread disinformation about the pandemic.
20 April 2020
Russians launch mass virtual protests using satnav application
People across Russia are logging onto a popular satnav to launch virtual protests. Within hours, the Yandex.Navigator app was showing empty squares and streets of cities in lockdown as "congested"
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
Maxim Edwards is the Eurasia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
Filip Stojanovski is the Eastern & Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
