This episode opens up with Adam, Alexandra and Nina discussing the latest news developments including the US Congress’s passage of the Ukraine aid bill; political developments in Croatia; the situation in Georgia and the situation of civil society in Azerbaijan. Later, Adam is joined by Andrew Wilson, a professor of Ukrainian Studies at UCL and a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. They discuss Andrew’s latest book titled “Political Technology. The Globalisation of Political Manipulation”.  You can find more about the book here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/boo ..read more

In this episode of the podcast, Adam, Alexandra and Nina start by discussing latest developments in the region including intensified Russian air attacks against Ukrainian cities, recent Slovak and Polish election results, protests in Hungary and draft UN resolution recalling the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica. For the main interview, Alexandra sits down with Dr. Hikmet Karcic, a Research Associate at the Institute for the Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law - University of Sarajevo. They discuss far-right narratives and forces in the Western Balkans, how those relate to ..read more

In this episode of the podcast, Adam, Nina and Alexandra start by a discussion of some of the latest developments in the region including the Georgia’s pursuit of a new version of the “foreign agent law”; a similar development in Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Ukraine’s targeting of Russian oil refineries and Romanian and Bulgaria entering the Schengen Zone (at least partially). For the main interview, Adam sits down with Wicke van den Broek a PhD candidate at Maastricht University carrying out research on EU democracy promotion in Belarus; and Aliaksei Piatrenka, a Belarusian ci ..read more

In this episode, Adam, Alexandra and Nina begin by discussing last weeks' horrific terrorist attack in Moscow, Russian attacks against energy infrastructure in Ukraine and the Russian missile in Polish airspace. They continue with some potentially hopeful developments such as results of first round of Slovak presidential elections and the European Council decision to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.  During the main interview, Nina talks to Dmitry Berezhkov, head of the Indigenous Information Centre of Russia. Dmitry speaks about the immediate impact of ..read more

In this episode, Adam and Alexandra start the episode by discussing worrying news for Kyrgyz civil society, Armenia's potential return to Europe, and upcoming elections in Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia. During the main interview - to mark International Women’s Day - Nina sat down with a photographer and videographer Zula Rabikowska who explores gender identities in Central and Eastern Europe. They talked about her project Nothing but a Curtain that brings voices of women, non-binary, and transgender people from our region.   You can read more about the project in her piece&nbs ..read more

In this episode, Adam and Nina discuss the deterioration of relations between Czechia and Slovakia, the celebration of 25 years of NATO membership in Czechia, Hungary and Poland and the ongoing media crackdown in Azerbaijan. They continue to analyse the split in the Visegrád Group as Hungary's Viktor Orbán's met with Donald Trump while Poland's president and prime visited US President Joe Biden. For the main interview, Alexandra and Nina sat down with Eugene Chausovsky, the Senior Director for Analytical Development and Training at the New Lines Institute to get his insights on the upcoming R ..read more

In this episode, Alexandra and Nina discuss the funeral of Alexei Navalny, Putin's state-of-the-nation address and the latest attack on Odesa in Ukraine. They walk you through relatively positive developments related to recent Serbian elections and reflect on meetings between Hungarian, Slovak and Russian foreign ministers. Later, Alexandra interviews Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă, a Bucharest-based writer and researcher specializing in EU foreign and security policy. They discuss the "accelerated" EU accession process for Ukraine and Moldova, its effects on integration prospects for the long-waiti ..read more

In this episode, Adam and Nina start by reflecting on recent Belarusian parliamentary elections and tragic death of Alexei Navalny. They also discuss last week's farmer's protests and dynamics among the Visegrád Group countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia). Later, Alexandra interviews Andrea Mazelliu, a lecturer of law at the University of New York Tirana, to get his insights on domestic politics in Albania, which have heated up in recent months. Alexandra and Andrea also deep dive into Albanian foreign policy and its path to the EU. Support the TEE podcast on Patreon: https://www ..read more

This special episode marking the second anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine features four short-form interviews with Ukrainians in the country and outside it. First, Nina and Alexandra discuss the news of the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who was murdered while imprisoned in one of Russia's northernmost prisons. Later, Nina and Alexandra share four stories from Ukraine with the following guests. Each guest shared their personal stories, reflections from the last two years, what they have been doing to support Ukraine, and the hopes they have for Ukraine ..read more

In this episode Adam, Nina and Alexandra start out by offering some of the latest news developments in Hungary, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Ukraine and Russia. Later Nina and Adam are joined by Maciej Makulski – a contributing editor with New Eastern Europe – to discuss Maciej’s recent research report titled: “Social media monitoring during the 2023 Polish Election. Immigration as a threat to national security and identity” and the consequences for upcoming elections. Download the report here: https://www.kew.org.pl/en/2024/02/08/report-social-media-monitoring-during-the-2023-polish-election-imm ..read more