Articles

The Kuznetsk Basin, or Kuzbass, is one of the largest coal deposits in the world. In 2012 the amount of extracted coal in Kuzbass exceeded 200 million tons for the first time. It is planned to further increase the extraction up to 430 million tons by 2030. That being said, the way black coal in Kuzbass is extracted infringes upon the rights of local citizens: the right to life, freedom of movement, inviolability of the home and freedom of opinion. 

At the eve of the 2018 FIFA World Cup a new personal exhibition by Sergey Novikov named “GRASSROOTS. Amateur Football in Russia” has been opened in the The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography in Moscow. The journalist Yekaterina Fomina asked the photographer why he is travelling around provincial stadiums and what role politics plays there.

The decision of where to build Kaliningrad’s 2018 World Cup stadium was the subject of heated debate; indeed, some had argued against the original building site but were overruled in 2014. Rosprirodnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage) observed that the soil on the island where the stadium was to be constructed contained dangerous substances, such as benzo(a)pyrene and radon, but this observation went unnoticed.

The disappointment of Europeans grows with the tone and manner of Trump’s behaviour, his disregard for European arguments against trade restrictions as well as the fact that he broke an international agreement and threatens European businesses with secondary sanctions. But how can a divided Europe keep up with the US?

Jerusalem has seemingly forever been at the epicentre of conflicts in the Middle-East. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has proven no different. Sovereignty over Jerusalem remains deeply contested between Israelis and Palestinians with both sides laying claim to the Haram al-Sharif / Temple Mount. 

In the twilight years of the 19th century, the Georgian people were faced with a number of challenges. Although the abolition of feudalism had liberated the peasantry, they had not been given land and their afflicted state remained the same.

The name Visegrad in Western European terminology has become synonymous with a lack of solidarity and nationalist politics. In Hungary, however, it also has implications for the future of democracy in Western Europe. How can the EU recover its appeal?

The conflict in Syria, considered to be the worst humanitarian crisis the world has faced since World War II, continues to have devastating effects on its people and an increasingly destabilising impact on the wider region. The EU can make a difference in conflict solving.

The UK is witnessing a drastic leadership vacuum - just when the opposite is needed most. Tory and Labour party are divided but there is hope given the multiple new civil organisations pop up on the Remain side. 

The foreign policy of the new Orbán government is rather 'obstructionist' than constructive. Orbán aims to create a sphere of influence on the Western Balkans and together with Poland form an Eastern block against the central European power. He is also inclined to make frequent use of it's veto right towards the EU.