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‘Uncharted’: how white narratives distort and orientalise Cypriot history and identity
CN: trauma OPINION ‘Uncharted’ is a four-part vlog-style Youtube series on the Cyprus conflict by YouTuber, Johnny Harris. I have watched the entirety of this insensitive, offensive series, so that you don’t have to. I will delve into my thoughts below, so you know exactly the reasons why you shouldn’t waste your precious energy on […]
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The French far right has never been stronger in my lifetime
CN: xenophobia, Islamophobia OPINION Out of sheer curiosity, I opened YouTube and watched Eric Zemmour’s campaign video for the 2022 presidential elections. Filled to the brim with nostalgia for a France that never was and apocalyptic warnings, the Beethoven symphony playing in the background was at least soothing. Ten minutes is a long time, especially […]
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Dictator with feet of clay: what we learnt from Lukashenko’s BBC interview
ANALYSIS “We’ll massacre all the scum that you have been financing” – fighting words from Europe`s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. During his interview with BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, Lukashenko expressed his contempt for what he calls Western-sponsored NGOs in Belarus. Lukashenko can hardly hold back his anger against the questions posed by Rosenberg on […]
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‘They are trying to divide us’: Bosnian anti-corruption activists speak out against ‘ruling party’ tactics
REPORT The last month has seen a flurry of protests across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Peace protests first unfolded at the end of October as Serb nationalist rhetoric threatened to destabilise the fragile peace in the country. More recently, miners from across Bosnia have gone on strike in protest of government plans to restructure indebted coal […]
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The political games threatening human life at the Poland-Belarus border
CN: death ANALYSIS The ‘migration crisis’ between Poland and Belarus may have hit the mainstream global news cycle in early November, but the origins of the contest reach much farther back. The crux of the issue is not about migration specifically, but is in fact a broader political disagreement between the EU and Belarus’ Lukashenka. […]
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‘The Serbian state supports the glorification of war criminals’: an interview with the organisation fighting to remove Mladić murals
CN: war, genocide triumphalism VIDEO In July this year, a mural honouring convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić was painted on a building in central Belgrade. This had occurred on the same day that Bosnia’s outgoing High Representative, Valentin Inzko, imposed changes to Bosnia’s Criminal Code that would prohibit the denial of genocide and glorification of […]
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‘Clarifications are not good enough’: Poles demand abortion law U-turn after pregnant woman dies
CN: death It seems to be a never-ending epic in Poland. Though one without a comforting victory. Once again, Poles are marching against the near-total abortion ban that came into effect a year ago. Protesters have linked the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman named Izabela, who died of sepsis 22 weeks into her pregnancy, […]
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‘Today, we fear for our lives again’: co-organiser of Sarajevo protests calls on peace implementers to act
CN: genocide, war, trauma INTERVIEW The ongoing security crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows no sign of abating. Bosnian-Serb leader, Milorad Dodik, continues to peddle a secessionist rhetoric that is yet to provoke meaningful repercussions for the politician. Now, documents accessed by regional press indicate the nationalist leader seeks to create a parallel judiciary, armed […]
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Europe’s amnesia of Bulgaria’s ‘Revival Process’ and its Turkish victims
CN: ethnic cleansing, murder, Islamophobia, Turcophobia, trauma OPINION While Germany is known for being home to the biggest Turkish diaspora, Bulgaria is home to the largest autochthonous Turkish community in Europe. Bulgaria is the historical land of origin of around 600 000 ethnic Turks, who are also citizens of the European Union by being citizens of […]