Category: Europe
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Nagorno-Karabakh: Russia’s struggle to be mediator in the Caucasus
OPINION The Caucasus, a region that has long been characterised by warfare and instability, has seen some of its most violent fighting in decades between Armenia and Azerbaijan, over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. This conflict is the latest in a series of shocks to what Moscow considers the Russian sphere of influence, which appears…
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Social media and the government: the fight against fake news in Serbia
REPORT During the summer, Facebook arrived in Serbia. To help prevent the spreading of false information on their platform, they employed third-party fact-checkers. Journalists from Istinomer and Agence France Presse (Serbia) factcheck likely false content on Facebook on a daily basis to help fight increasing disinformation. Today, fake news is all over the internet – this…
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Why moving to Vienna has made my life easier as a trans person
OPINION Moving abroad is never an easy process, especially in the midst of a pandemic that casts uncertainty on all of our futures. But for a trans person like me, moving to a new city or country is filled with difficulties that cisgender people neither think about, nor anticipate. I have lived in the UK…
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Labour must not get lost in the polling
OPINION No one can doubt that Keir Starmer has been greatly needed in cutting through the chaos of ever-changing COVID-19 policies. As former Director of the Crown Prosecution Service, his experience shows at the dispatch box every time. That being said, as another Labour Party conference passes, we are no clearer on what Starmer’s Labour…
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The shameful and systematic neglect of Spain’s migrant farm workers
OPINION In the greenhouses of southern Spain, thousands of undocumented migrants toil away in unsafe conditions to cultivate the fresh produce that lines the shelves of European supermarkets. Yet those who work to feed Europe have been forgotten about in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, forced to live and work in saturated and unsanitary…
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The complicated relationship between Russia’s youth and their President
OPINION This year marks twenty years since Vladimir Putin won his first election as Russian President, a post that he shows no signs of leaving in the near, or even mid-term, future. Earlier this year, members of his party proposed amendments to the Russian constitution which would ‘zero’ the number of terms that he has…
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The UK’s child poverty problem didn’t start with COVID-19
OPINION As the economic repercussions of COVID-19 begin to manifest in increased unemployment and redundancies, remember that it was not this virus that planted the seeds of worsening child poverty. Between 1999 and 2010, the UK’s child poverty rates were in decline, but since 2010 almost all progress made in reducing poverty in the previous…
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Serbia: the air we breathe
REPORT The year 2020 has seen big changes to our lives. Face masks have been introduced into our everyday routine to prevent us from getting infected with COVID-19. Here in Serbia, we don’t like to wear them, mostly because temperatures are still warm and it’s uncomfortable, especially when travelling on public transport. Serbian citizens, temporarily…
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The constitutional referendum could be about to undermine Italian democracy
OPINION Italy has a long history of attempted but never implemented constitutional reforms. The upcoming referendum on September 20th-21st will ask voters to confirm or reject an amendment to the Constitution regarding the number of MPs in both Chambers of the Italian Parliament. Currently, Italy’s Parliament consists of 945 elected MPs – 630 Deputies and…
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The Internal Market Bill: an early demise for ‘Global Britain’
OPINION In his premier speech as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson assured us that “everyone” knows the values that the British flag represents: democracy, freedom, due process, and the rule of law. Yet as his Secretary of State for Northern Ireland admits that the Internal Market Bill “does break international law”, it seems Boris has forgotten,…
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