Category: Europe
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Neo-Nazism in the armed forces: France’s latest military scandal is symptomatic of its complacency over the far right
CN: this article mentions far-right slurs OPINION An investigation led by Mediapart has revealed that at least 50 soldiers from various regiments of the French army have been found displaying neo-Nazi behaviour, in a pattern becoming worryingly more ubiquitous in the Hexagone. Behaviours included the displaying of the swastika ensign in barracks, photographs with flags of…
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Poland’s likely withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, and violence against women: an interview with Gals4Gals Łódź
PODCAST CN: this podcast episode contains discussion of homophobia, transphobia and misogyny. As Poland’s government comes one step closer to achieving its stated goal of withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention, Politika News speaks to Gals4Gals Łódź. Last year, the feminist movement organised the city’s largest protest since the hunger demonstrations of 1981, against the government’s…
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Remembering the Katyn Massacre and Stalinist crimes in Poland
HISTORY In April and May of 1940, 22 000 Polish army officers and civilians were murdered by Stalin’s NKVD. This year marks the 81st anniversary of what for a long time has been one of the many forgotten crimes of Stalin’s oligarchy. Remembering the Katyn Massacre today defies decades of denialism and renewed attempts to obscure the truth.…
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Stormont’s neglect of the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland has led its children to violence
OPINION Reports of children as young as 12 being coerced to riot by gangs has been the most harrowing aspect of the recent upsurge of violence in Northern Ireland. The sinister and parasitical thugs who groom young people for criminal activity must be roundly condemned, but our political leaders share part of the blame for…
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Hopelessness, segregation and divisive politics have driven Northern Ireland’s peace generation to violence
OPINION As the centenary of the partition of Ireland approaches, the streets of Northern Ireland are facing the ‘worst rioting in years’. Many of those leading the violence, some of whom have now been arrested, have been strikingly young. A significant number were born after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA). What has brought this…
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On the 23rd anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, peace has never been more fragile in Northern Ireland
OPINION Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, that brought desperately-needed peace to my parents’ and grandparents’ generation. The centenary of the partition of Ireland is also just round the corner. Over the past week, loyalist violence and disturbances have erupted on the streets of Belfast, Derry and other cities in Northern…
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Vaccination glitch highlights Warsaw’s negligent handling of the pandemic
OPINION On 1 April, without any apparent warning, thousands of Polish citizens aged 40-59 were invited to book their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. This, despite the fact that many older residents were yet to be vaccinated. Vaccines for the 40-59 age group had initially been expected to start in mid-May. The Chief of the Chancellery…
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Continuities between Ottoman and Habsburg Bosnia: an interview with scholar, Leyla Amzi-Erdogdular
INTERVIEW Leyla Amzi-Erdogdular received her Ph.D. from the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University specialising in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. Her research focuses on the history of the Ottoman Empire and Southeast Europe. Presently, Leyla Amzi-Erdogdular is working on a book manuscript titled ‘Afterlife of Empire’ that explores Ottoman continuities…
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Greek ethnic nationalism and the Yugoslav Wars: an interview with award-winning journalist and author, Takis Michas
PODCAST CN: this podcast episode contains discussion of genocide and xenophobia Before 8,372 Muslim men and boys were murdered in the Srebrenica genocide of July 1995, it was the blue-white Hellenic flag that was raised alongside the Serbian ensign in the defeated Muslim enclave. No Greek writer has done more to uncover the dark and…
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Seeking justice for Bosnia’s women: an interview with scholar, Aida Hozić
CN: this article contains discussion of sexual violence and genocide INTERVIEW A quarter of a century after the Dayton Accords were signed, the women of Bosnia are still living with the aftermath of the terrors of war. Bosnian scholars, activists and artists continue to campaign for the experiences of Bosnian women during the war of…
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