Talk Eastern Europe

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeThis episode features a discussion with Aline Sierp, an Associate Professor in European Studies at Maastricht University, the co-founder and co-president of the Memory Studies Association, and the Council of European Studies’ Research Network on Transnational Memory and Identity in Europe. Aline provides us with a broader context of the Contested Histories Onsite project which is a cooperation between Talk Eastern Europe, the Memory Studies Association, and EuroClio: the European Association of History Educators. This project is powered by the European Commission and the Europe4Citizens program.” Under this project, we published three episodes on different historical sites in Europe, the narratives around them, and the recontextualization that these narratives have undergone. This podcast presents some reflections on the work done under the project and presents some other outcomes that are available to the broader public. Previous episodes under the Contested Histories Onsite project: Episode 99: Transforming the fascist past. The case of Bolzano’s bas-relief, https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-99-transforming-the-fascist-past-the-case-of-bolzanos-bas-relief-424Episode 85: Estonia grapples with its Soviet past, https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-85-estonia-grapples-with-its-soviet-past-228Episode 77: Inside memory sites - The Warsaw Rising Museum, https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-77-inside-memory-sites-the-warsaw-rising-museum-910 The Contested Histories Onsite website: https://contestedhistories.org/onsite/Memory Studies Association: https://www.memorystudiesassociation.org/contested-histories-onsite/EuroClio: https://www.euroclio.eu/project/contested-histories/

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeIn this episode Aga sits down with Harold Chambers, an independent political and security analyst specialising in the North Caucasus, to discuss the recent anti-mobilisation protests in this multi-ethnic part of Russia usually known for very low levels of open dissent. Aga and Harold then delve deeper into the mood in Chechnya specifically, and compare how the usual perception of Chechen troops differs from their real performance on the battlefield in Ukraine.In the final part of the discussion, available exclusively for our patrons, Aga and Harold talk about the notorious head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. What role does he play in Russia's war against Ukraine? Does he have a special relationship with Putin and the Kremlin? What is his endgame? Join our patreon to find out! The full episode can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/73456918Follow Harold on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chambersharold8You can find his weekly updates on North Caucasus in Lossi 36's newsletter: https://lossi36.com/category/format/news/His recent articles include:"Mobilization in the North Caucasus" - https://ridl.io/mobilization-in-the-north-caucasus/"The price of protest in Chechnya" - https://ridl.io/the-price-of-protest-in-chechnya/"Moving Beyond the Chechen Troika" - https://ridl.io/moving-beyond-the-chechen-troika/"The Shifting Political Hierarchy in the North Caucasus" - https://www.fpri.org/article/2022/06/the-shifting-political-hierarchy-in-the-north-caucasus/"The post-Kadyrov mirage" - https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/09/07/the-post-kadyrov-mirage

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope In this week’s episode, Adam and Maciek open with a discussion on some of the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war. Later they sit down with Megan McCullough, a development associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and a contributor to Lossi36. They discuss the place of Bosnia in Europe and its geopolitical position, the complicated electoral system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the broad social challenges faced in the country and the uncertain results of the most recent elections on October 2nd 2022. What do the results say about the future of the country? What are its perspectives for European integration?For our patrons, we continue the conversation looking at how the Bosnian society sees the war in Ukraine and what are the geopolitical players’ interest in the Western Balkans region and what is the role of Bosnia in geopolitics. The entire podcast episode can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-114-deep-73177149Resources:A Book Of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Luminous-Things-International-Anthology/dp/0156005743 Bosnia Elections: One Loser, no Clear Winners – Uncertain Prospects, Balkan Insight: https://balkaninsight.com/2022/10/04/bosnia-elections-one-loser-no-clear-winners-uncertain-prospects/ Sign up to get updates on the latest episodes at: www.talkeasterneurope.eu

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope In this episode we look towards China from the perspective of its encounters with the West and Europe. Our guest is Jacek Hajduk, a Cracow-based (Poland) writer and classical philologist. His recent book “The Journal of the Rat Year” (in Polish: Dziennik Roku Szczura”) has been recently published in Poland. The book offers an in-depth historical look into the Chinese-European relations and shows us that a meaningful and patient discovering China’s and Europe’s history will tell us a lot about ourselves and our today challenges. Follow our guest on Twitter: @jahajdukMore about the book [in Polish]: https://www.kew.org.pl/produkt/rok-szczura/ Check out the latest issue of New Eastern Europe: https://bit.ly/3SPvdonRead online: "Putin’s mobilisation. Too little, too late" by Agnieszka Bryc, New Eastern Europe 26 Sept 2022: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/09/26/putin-mobilization-russia-war-ukraine/Check us out at: www.talkeasterneurope.eu

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeIn this episode, Aga and Maciek sit down not with one but two guests, diving deep into the history of Russian/Soviet disinformation and memory politics, and linking it to the most recent events, including the partial mobilization in Russia and sham referenda in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The voices of our guests will seem familiar to our regular listeners, as Aga and Maciek were joined by Prof. Agnieszka Legucka of the Polish Institute of International Affairs and Dr. Maria Domańska of the Centre for Eastern Studies. The inspiration for our discussion was a recently published volume "Disinformation, Narratives and Memory Politics in Russia and Belarus", to which both of our guests contributed.Additional materials:"Disinformation, Narratives and Memory Politics in Russia and Belarus" - https://www.routledge.com/Disinformation-Narratives-and-Memory-Politics-in-Russia-and-Belarus/Legucka-Kupiecki/p/book/9781032251103"Forward, into the past! Russia’s politics of memory in the service of ‘eternal’ authoritarianism" - https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-report/2021-11-22/forward-past"The Set-up" by Vladimir Volkoff, https://archive.org/details/setup00volk/mode/2up Follow our guests:Prof. Legucka - https://www.pism.pl/analysts/Agnieszka_Legucka_en ; @ALegucka on TwitterDr. Domańska - https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/eksperci/maria-domanska ; @MDomanskaOSW on TwitterOur guests' previous episodes:Episode 34 "Pandemic, power and Putin forever" with Prof. Legucka - https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-34-pandemic-power-and-putin-forever-856Episode 71 "Putin's test of the West" with Prof. Legucka - https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-71-putins-test-of-the-west-434Episode 87 "Russian memory politics" with Dr. Domańska - https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-87-russian-memory-politics-762

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeThis week Maciek and Aga open the episode with a discussion on the latest news regarding Ukraine’s gains in the Kharkiv region, pushing back the Russian forces that have been occupying land there for the last several months. Later, Adam interviews Marie Dumoulin from the European Council on Foreign Relations. They talk about the debate around the EU-wide visa ban for Russian tourists, examine EU sanctions and how European states are working with Russian groups abroad. The debate on a visa ban is not a settled one as there are arguments for both sides. We offer several resources below for you to learn more about the context of this debate, including another point of view in contrast to the guest speaker on today’s podcast.“Why banning Russians from Europe is the right thing to do”, by Vladyslav Faraponov. New Eastern Europe 31 August 2022: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/08/31/why-banning-russians-from-europe-is-the-right-thing-to-do/ “The imperial mentality of unapologetic Russian oppositionists”, by Tomasz Kamusella. New Eastern Europe 26 August 2022: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/08/26/the-imperial-mentality-of-unapologetic-russian-oppositionists/ More about the Guest: Marie Dumoulin is the director of the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining ECFR, Dumoulin worked as a French career diplomat. She held a number of positions in French diplomatic missions abroad, e.g. in Turkmenistan, Algeria, Germany, and was seconded to the German Foreign Ministry during the German OSCE Chairmanship.Check us out online at: www.talkeasterneurope.euDon’t forget to give us a Five-Star rating!

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeIn the first part of the episode, the trio of co-hosts briefly exchange summer reflections and what they were following recently in the region after not seeing each other for a while. The core part overviews the situation over the Crimean Peninsula and of Crimean Tatars. Crimea has been recently at the heart of a debate over the war due to reported Ukraine’s strikes on Russian infrastructure in Crimea in mid-August. It was also toward the end of August when the Second Crimea Platform took place. It is a Ukraine-initiated tool to keep the issue of Crimea high on the international agenda.Guest: Nedim Useinow, a member of the Coordination Council of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars in Poland. He also represents the Department of European Islam Studies at the University of Warsaw."The mission of journalists is to reveal the truth", https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/07/14/the-mission-of-journalists-is-to-reveal-the-truth/"The Crimea Platform as a new approach to a seven-year-old problem", https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/08/24/the-crimea-platform-as-a-new-approach-to-a-seven-year-old-problem/"The Crimean Platform: possible light in the hybrid tunnel", https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/08/23/the-crimean-platform-possible-light-in-the-hybrid-tunnel/

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope In this episode we turn towards Georgia, to discuss the current developments in the country and the implications of the recent decision of the European Council not to grant Georgia EU candidate status just yet. Aga delves into these topics together with Grigol Julukhidze, Director and Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Council - an independent, non-profit think tank based in Tbilisi. They talk about the never-ending internal political crisis in the country, the importance of Euro-Atlantic integration for the Georgian population and the ever more present influence of Russian propaganda and disinformation.You can follow Grigol and his work on https://foreignpolicycouncil.com/ and on Twitter @grigoljulukhidz .Recent NEE articles on Georgia:“From emperors to refugees: Russian emigration to Armenia and Georgia” - https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/07/14/from-emperors-to-refugees-russian-emigration-to-armenia-and-georgia/“Georgia has work to do before it is considered an EU candidate country” - https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/06/30/georgia-has-work-to-do-before-it-is-considered-an-eu-candidate-country/Check out our previous episodes:Episode 96: Georgia’s government distancing from Ukraine - https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-96-georgias-government-distancing-from-ukraine-893Episode 78: Another hot summer in Georgia - https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-78-another-hot-summer-in-georgia-981

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope In this episode, we look at the Western Balkans. After somewhat disappointing the EU-Western Balkans Summit in June 2022, the European Commission announced the opening of the accession negotiations with the two candidate countries Albania and North Macedonia on July 19. Gentjan Skara, the Head of the Department of Law at the Bedër University College in Triana, joined us to provide his view on critical factors that led to the opening of negotiations. He also shared his assessment of what tasks lie ahead of Albania before the country could become a Member of the European Union. Visit us online: www.talkeasterneurope.eu

*** Please support us to keep bringing you in-depth coverage. Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeIn this episode of Talk Eastern Europe, Adam sits down with Nina Rozhanovskaya a coordinator and academic liaison at the Kennan Institute of the Wilson Centre. Nina and Adam explore understanding Russian support for the war in Ukraine and a focus on opposition to the war among Russians inside and outside the country. They discuss the growing internal repressions and the consequences for speaking out against this war. Read the most recent publication on this topic: “Disloyalty is punishable: Russians hide their true feelings about the war” By: Maria Domańska, New Eastern Europe 17 June 2022: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2022/06/17/disloyalty-is-punishable-russians-hide-their-true-feelings-about-the-war/ Visit us online: www.talkeasterneurope.eu