Talk Eastern Europe

*** Please support this podcast – become a Patron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.eu ***In this episode Adam and Maciek start with a discussion on developments in Russia-China relations. Later, they are joined by Mikayel Hovhannisyan, Program Director, Eurasia Partnership Foundation in Armenia, and a member of the EaP Civil Society Forum's Steering Committee. Mikayel shares his insights on the outcomes of the Eastern Partnership Summit held in December 2021. We also have a look at the challenges and opportunities lying ahead for the Eastern Partnership in the upcoming years.This episode is a collaboration between Talk Eastern Europe and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. Make sure to check the previous episode we did with the support of the Forum. If you like to learn more about the Eastern Partnership and the activities of civil society organizations from the region visit the website of the Forum. Resources and backgroundEastern Partnership Civil Society Forum: https://eap-csf.eu/Listen to Episode 84: Ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit: https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episode/episode-84-ahead-of-the-eastern-partnership-summit-840Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/53527/20211215-eap-joint-declaration-en.pdfEaP CSF Statement on the 6th Eastern Partnership Summithttps://eap-csf.eu/project/eap-csf-statement-on-the-6th-eastern-partnership-summit/CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE: https://talkeasterneurope.eu

*** Please support this podcast – become a Patron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.eu *** This episode of Talk Eastern Europe explores the role that the Arctic region plays in the European Union’s foreign and security policy. As a result of the warming climate and the expanding geopolitical ambitions of Russia and other global actors, the Arctic is becoming more important to relations in the Northern Hemisphere. What are the EU’s objectives and how can the EU achieve its aims vis-a-vis its policy in the North.To help us understand these issues, we sit down with Urmas Paet, a member of the European Parliament from Estonia who is also vice chair of the EP’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. Paet was also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 2005 to 2014. In the discussion we are also joined by Ronek Jäär, an intern working with New Eastern Europe and a student at Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University Of Tartu. We are grateful for his research and input into the episode.Resources and background“Joint Communication on a stronger EU engagement for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic” published by the European Union: https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/105481/joint-communication-stronger-eu-engagement-peaceful-sustainable-and-prosperous-arctic_enEuropean Parliament resolution of 7 October 2021 on the Arctic: opportunities, concerns and security challenges: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0413_EN.html “A cold relation: Russia, China and science in the Arctic” An interview with researchers Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen and Mariia Kobzeva. New Eastern Europe 25 March 2020. https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/03/25/a-cold-relation-russia-china-and-science-in-the-arctic/

>>>Support this podcast – become a Patron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.euIn this episode, we deal with the subject of Russian politics of memory. We discuss the basic threads of the Russian narrative about collective memory and discuss how and for what purposes they are instrumentalized by the current rulers in the Kremlin. It also turns out that understanding the Russian authorities' approach to history provides explanations for the motives behind Russia's current actions at the international arena, including a possible escalation of the Russian-provoked 2014 war with Ukraine. We also look at how independent researchers and non-governmental organizations are trying to build a message based on facts or family stories that does not agree with the official line of the Kremlin.Our guide on this important and complex topic is Maria Domańska, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, and co-author of a report on Russia's politics of memory. The report is available for download here:https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-report/2021-11-22/forward-pastRead also: “The forbidden theme of repression: History in the service of authoritarian politics”, by Maria Domańska, New Eastern Europe, 30 November 2021 https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/11/30/the-forbidden-theme-of-repression-history-in-the-service-of-authoritarian-politics/

In the first episode of 2022, Talk Eastern Europe takes a comprehensive look at the situation on the border of Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Last year, the regime in Minsk headed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, tried to artificially create a migration and border crisis for EU states as revenge for sanctions policies in the wake of the falsified 2020 elections and subsequent crackdowns. In this special episode, Maciek collects insights from two Polish experts (Filip Rudnik, Dominik Wilczewski) who followed the crisis closely. The discussions provide a special focus on the internal situations in Belarus and Lithuania.Support this podcast – become a Patron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.euResources:Check out New Eastern Europe’s issue about Belarus (5/2021): https://neweasterneurope.eu/product/issue-5-2021-belarusians-one-year-in-protest/ “Dispatch from the border: Witnessing Lithuania’s migrant pushbacks” by: Jurga Bakaitė. New Eastern Europe, 09 November 2021: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/11/09/dispatch-from-the-border-witnessing-lithuanias-migrant-pushbacks/ Don’t forget to give us 5 * Rating! Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/TalkEasternEurope

*** Support Talk Eastern Europe. Become a Patron at www.patreon.com/TalkEasternEurope The final episode of 2021 once again takes us to Estonia. This time the context is a discussion on the removal of the Soviet-era “Bronze Soldier” statue in Tallinn which took place in April 2007. As a result of the government’s decision, violent protests broke out in Estonia – unprecedented for the small Baltic state.The incident exemplifies the complexity of memory in this region but also illustrates how memory is used to manipulate and incite violence. To revisit this discussion and take stock on the current state of inter-ethnic relations in Estonia, Adam and Maciek sit down with Karsten Brüggemann Professor of Estonian and General History at Tallinn University.This episode is being produced within the framework of the project titled “Contested Histories Onsite”, a project which aims to place Europeans in discussions and debates on multiple historical perspectives and to activate citizens in public involvement of memory-constructions. As part of the EU’s Europe for Citizens programme, the project’s aspiration is rooted in a shared conviction that raising critical questions about the past is fundamental for citizens to develop a critical attitude towards the narratives that are competing with each other in contemporary politics.For more information on the project visit: -Contested Histories Onsite: https://contestedhistories.org/onsite/-Memory Studies Association: https://www.memorystudiesassociation.org/contested-histories-onsite/-EuroClio: https://www.euroclio.eu/project/contested-histories/- Listen to our previous episode on the Warsaw Uprising Museum: https://www.spreaker.com/user/talkeasterneurope/tee-77 ****Check out our special podcast series on Polish Science Fiction and Fantasy / 100 Years of Stanislaw Lem. Available here: https://apple.co/3d6ToM8

>>> Support our podcast, become a patron: www.patreon.com/TalkEasternEurope On December 15th, the European Union will host the Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels – the first in-person summit since 2019. The Summit aims to focus on five priority areas – economy, governance, the environment, digital and society.In this episode of Talk Eastern Europe, Maciek sits down with three experts from the Eastern Partnership’s Civil Society Forum to discuss their expectations for the Summit and how civil society plays a key role in the development of the Eastern Partnership. They also discuss their latest position paper which addresses the EU’s post-2020 priorities for the initiative. Guests: Vera Rihackova Pachta, Interim Director of the EaP CSF; Sofia Strive, ForumCiv (Sweden) Co-Chair of the EaP CSF; and Tatiana Poshevalova, Centre for Social Innovations (Belarus) and member of the EaP CSF Steering Committee. ResourcesCheck out the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum: https://eap-csf.eu/No recovery without democracy: Rule of law and democratic accountability at the heart of recovery, resilience and reform. Read the paper here: https://eap-csf.eu/project/position-paper-on-the-jswd-on-recovery-resilience-and-reform/ More on the Eastern Partnership Summit: https://euneighbourseast.eu/eapsummit/>>> Check out the latest issue of New Eastern Europe here: https://bit.ly/3xL6x78****Talk Eastern Europe is a member of the EuroPod Network. Learn more here: https://www.bullemedia.eu/europod

>>> Support the podcast, become a patron: www.patreon.com/TalkEasternEuropeEstonia has recently undergone two political cycles. First, with the election of Alar Karis as president of the republic, and next with the Centre Party winning the local elections. At the same time, the greatest beneficiary of coalition talks at the local level is the ruling party – the Reform Party. Eesti 200 made a strong debut in local elections while national-conservative EKRE improve the result from the last municipal election. In this episode, Maciek discusses these elections with Stefano Braghiroli, an associate professor of European Studies at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu. They look at the results and what they might say about the current state of Estonian politics and society.For the official electoral results: https://kov2021.valimised.ee/en/election-result/index.html“What to watch in Estonia’s upcoming local elections” By: Samuel Kramer. New Eastern Europe, 15 October 2021: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/10/15/what-to-watch-in-estonias-upcoming-local-elections/ Talk Eastern Europe episode 74: Can Eesti 200 bridge political divides in Estonia? https://www.spreaker.com/user/talkeasterneurope/tee-74 ****Check out our brand new podcast series: “Exploring Polish Science Fiction and Fantasy – 100 Years of Stanislaw Lem” find it here: www.neweasterneurope.eu/Lem100 Or on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3o5BIHd Apple podcasts: https://apple.co/3d6ToM8 ****Talk Eastern Europe is a member of the EuroPod Network. Learn more here: https://www.bullemedia.eu/europod

>>> Support the podcast, become a patron: www.patreon.com/TalkEasternEurope Earlier this month was a the EU-Western Balkan Summit in Brdo Slovenia. While there has been a lot of talk of seeking a breakthrough in opening the EU membership door for Western Balkans, not much came to fruition as a result of the high level meeting. Nevertheless, it is important to understand current issues regarding Western Balkans, their relations with the European Union and what might come next.In this episode of Talk Eastern Europe, Maciek catches up with Marta Szpala an analyst at the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), to get her insight on the current developments in the region of Western Balkans.**************Full text of the Brdo declaration of the EU-Western Balkans summit: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/52280/brdo-declaration-6-october-2021-en.pdf TEE Episode 61: Bulgaria blocks North Macedonia’s EU aspirations https://www.spreaker.com/user/talkeasterneurope/tee-61 The Berlin Process and why the EU remains a political dwarf in the Balkans by Ivan Pepic: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2019/08/12/the-berlin-process-and-why-the-eu-remains-a-political-dwarf-in-the-balkans/ Talk Eastern Europe is a member of the EuroPod Network. Learn more here: https://www.bullemedia.eu/europod

*** Support this podcast! Become a Patron here: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeThis episode of Talk Eastern Europe attempts to add context to the situation that is taking place on the border with Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Since June this year, the regime in Minsk has deliberately stimulated a migration crisis on the eastern border of the EU as a response to tough policies towards the Lukashenka regime. To give greater context to this issue, it is important to look through the lens of biopolitics – which is the intersection of biology and politics. During this podcast, Maciek meets with Andrey Makarychev, visiting professor at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies in Tartu Estonia and co-author of the book “Critical Biopolitics of the Post-Soviet: From Populations to Nations”.Resources:Critical Biopolitics of the Post-Soviet, By Andrey Makarychev and Alexandra Yatsyk: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Biopolitics-Post-Soviet-Populations-Nations-ebook/dp/B081XGNLF9 “River and fog instead of fence and radars: guarding Lithuania’s easternmost border”, by Gytis Pankūnas and Justinas Stacevičius. New Eastern Europe, 30 August 2021. https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/08/30/river-an-fog-instead-of-fence-and-radars-guarding-lithuanias-easternmost-border/ Gone with the virus. How the pandemic makes Russian strategy evanescent, by Andrey Makarychev. New Eastern Europe issue 4/2020: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/07/07/gone-with-the-virus-how-the-pandemic-makes-russian-strategy-evanescent/ Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Groups/TalkEasternEuropeTalk Eastern Europe is a member of the EuroPod network. Check it out here: https://www.bullemedia.eu/europod

*** Support this podcast! Become a Patron here: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneuropeIn this episode, Talk Eastern Europe returns to Central Europe and discusses recent political developments in Hungary. Following Viktor Orbán’s debut on American prime time with his interview with Tucker Carlson, Adam catches up with Ferenc Laczo, a political and intellectual historian at Maastricht University, and an editor with the CEU’s Review of Democracy. They explore Orbán’s attempts to build himself as a leader of right-wing politics, the current situation in the country, and what might we expect ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections.ResourcesLegacy of Division: East and West after 1989 https://www.eurozine.com/about-eurozine/print-series/ RevDem podcasts https://democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/revdem-podcasts Check out our exclusive Zoom discussion (for patrons only) with Szabolsc Panyi on Hungarian media: https://www.patreon.com/posts/tee-patron-zoom-47909846 Women protests in Belarus, online discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I4--qNTdi4 Political system in Belarus, online discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPcCmV7eqzU&t >>>>> Check out the newest issue of the magazine on Belarus here: https://bit.ly/3kd5OGN