Central Europe Explained

As students, engagement is a key driver of one’s personal development. But what does engagement mean? Which place plays youth in academia? Are they passive listeners or actors for change? In July 2022, the DRC Summer School on the Future of Academia in the Danube Region took place in Vienna and welcomed around twenty participants from all over Europe. We took the chance to talk with actors from ac...

The Danube Tech Valley Initiative, Central Europe’s next innovative driver  Countries of the Danube Region find common ground with their shared cultures and histories but also their variety of traditional industries. During the past decades, innovative technologies have flooded the region, although western countries remain the prominent leader in innovation. Yet, a new driver is awaiting, and...

Novi Sad as the European Capital of Culture 2022   On the 1st of January 2022, the Serbian city Novi Sa d officially became the European Capital of Culture . With one year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Novi Sad is among the first cities outside the European Union and the first from the Western Balkans to be awarded this title.     Created in 1985, European Capitals o...

The fight for Pride and the nation in Ukraine The war in Ukraine is often framed as a struggle over Ukrainians belonging to either the East or the West. Given this, it becomes clear why especially LGBTQIA+ activists stress Ukraine’s commitment to so-called Western values. They include human rights and, in particular, the acceptance of the queer community. On the other side, Russia’s President Vlad...

While nationalism has mainly been recognized – and researched – as one of the most influential ideologies of modern times, its connection with morality and sexual norms started to receive attention relatively recently. In Europe, this phenomenon has taken root at different paces and scales, marking the continent's political cultures and multiple identities.    How is a national disc...

Sarajevo's first rainbow march in 2019 Promoting empowerment, dignity and equality of the LGBTQIA* community, pride honours queer history.   In 2019, Sarajevo celebrated its first rainbow march. Bosnia and Herzegovina was the last country in the Western Balkans to organise a parade but it gathered 3 000 participants and took place without violence. The event marked a turning point in the...

When a crisis hits, schools are a safe space for children as a driver for hope and dreams.   When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, every school had to introduce remote learning.  And when the war hit Europe two years later, Ukrainian students and teachers had to adapt again.    In times of war, classrooms remain a place where children find a sense of stability and process t...

Four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an official application for EU membership. Fast-tracking the application was discussed in certain circles, however such a procedure does not exist. Facing this impossibility, questions arose regarding the regional future of Ukraine and the recovery of the country after the war will finally end.   ...

Covid-19 has been part of our everyday life for more than 2 years now. Although young people have been less threatened by Covid-19 in terms of physical well-being, they were more likely than older groups to experience financial and housing insecurity, unemployment and mental health problems. Now as states are trying to recover from the pandemic, we want to take a closer look at the role of young p...

Which role for CEE in the Ukrainian refugee crisis?  “Ursula von der Leyen said very pointedly: This is our family. The Ukrainian people are the European family.”    According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and by the end of march 2022, more than 4 million refugees have left the country while about 6 million people ha...

When presidents become TikTok stars, influencers report live from bomb shelters and photographers capture the unimaginable, we find ourselves in March 2022 and a war is raging in Europe.     Today, the power of images is a decisive factor in the development of wars.  During the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine their power is used by very different actors with various in...

Independent journalism is the backbone of every functioning democracy. Yet for the countries of the Western Balkan, the free spaces for reporting have been shrinking. Journalists often find themselves in a hostile atmosphere, often labelled by as traitors of the nation or as foreign agents. Resilient independent media is a precondition for the rising threats of disinformation and fake news. How do...

Every year Estonia saves more than 1400 years of working time and 2% of GDP . How? Through its digital public services. Until 1991, Estonia was a Soviet republic, but since regaining its independence, it has succeeded in becoming a “digital republic”: a frontrunner in digitalization in CEE and in the world.    Since the pandemic hit, the demand for digital solutions have risen unpre...

"The problem in the pandemic is that the individual has been so much highlighted that we have forgotten about society."    The Covid-19 pandemic happened to be a fertile ground for nationalist and protectionist political forces. By bringing national politics to the forefront, European integration suffered fundamentally. With the restoration of nation-territorial borders as well as “...

"  [ The question ]  is now: how to finance, how to make a fair distribution, and how to prepare a system in a way which is resilient, that brings life quality and fairness to all of us."   In 2019 the CAF2020  was launched, aiming to help and improve public sector organizations’ performances from a national to a local level. The CAF ( Common Assessment Framework ) is a total q...

Healing the Economy: The European Silk Road - cooperation and recovery in CEE "We need a new narrative and (...) a big common European mission, like the European Silk Road could be one of those narratives which could bring us together." In 2018, a study by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) proposed the European Silk Road as a response to China’s New Silk Road.  Ai...

The conflict between the Hungarian government and the Central European University (CEU) is a well-known example of universities’ struggle for autonomy. Daniela Apaydin , a research associate at the IDM, spoke with former CEU rector, the author, historian, and former politician,  Prof. Michael Ignatieff , about his personal lessons learned and possible actions to improve the resilien...

As for the rest of Europe, the Central European and Danube Region have a long way to go before reaching climate-neutral policies. But concrete projects and activities try to make this change.   Such is the case with the Amazon of Europe Bike Trail that aims to promote new types of green and regional tourism.   The cycling trail follows the natural meanders of the rivers Mura, D...

“The time during the pandemic has really been melting and has become relative. However, we should not let the rule of law and our democratic standards suffer the same fate.”  The Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant weakening not only of the human health, but also of democratic processes and the functioning of state institutions. State of emergencies have been misused in certain countries...

In February 2021, Serbia was leading the “vaccination race”, with the highest vaccinations rates within Europe. The news outlets were reporting that the government had been successful in its vaccination strategy, which prioritized healthcare over politics by looking at the purchase and distribution of vaccines as a hea...

Vor 40 Jahren am 13. Dezember 1981 wurde in Polen das Kriegsrecht verhängt, Die Anhänger der Demokratiebewegung Solidarność wurden inhaftiert, die Armee nahm Einfluss auf die öffentlichen Medien, Bürgerrechte aufgehoben, hunderttausende Polen verließen das Land und suchten Asyl im Ausland. Wie ist es dazu gekommen? In dieser Folge von “IDM Exptertise” blicken wir auf auf die Zeit während des Krieg...

“Europe has to be seen from its many differences, but in the end the common law is the hope for compromise and further cooperation.” Institutional challenges in the European Union have been exacerbated by the pandemic at the same time that EU enlargement has been put aside. Agreed in July 2020, the recovery fund Next Generation EU, brought hope of further integration and collab...

Central Europe Explained is back for its second season! CEE 2.0 is focusing on Post-Covid Recovery that the regions of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe is going through. If many wonder “When will a return to normalcy finally happen?”, then drastic changes in an out-of-date idea of normality appear necessary . National individualism, democratic emergency, empires of disinformation, to...

On July 2, 2021, 16 national conservative political parties signed the so-called Joint Declaration on the Future of the European Union. In the document, they outlined their perception on the future of the EU: a re-deepening of sovereignty of Member States accompanied by the strengthening of the nation-state system in opposition to other more integrated visions of the EU. What are the parties behin...

Interview mit Aliaksei Paluyan, Regisseur des Dokumentarfilms „Courage“  Kunst trifft auf Diktator: Im Sommer 2020 machte sich der Filmemacher  Aliaksei Paluyan  auf die Suche nach mutigen KünstlerInnen, die trotz harten Repressionen des belarussischen Regimes ihre Kunst ausüben – im Untergrund oder auch im Exil. Inspiration für...