Vive La Fraternité: Why EU Civil Society Must Learn from the French Blog Civil society and citizens take over the duties in welcoming refugees where Member States and the EU fail. Parts of civil society have awoken across borders to contest policies and laws that they believe to be contrary to the ‘core principles’ of both Member States and the EU, as well as contrary to broader humanitarian, religious or political principles. By Jennifer Allsopp
At Assad’s Mercy Article While Berlin is contemplating secure borders, the Syrian regime has embarked on its next campaign to exacerbate the suffering of refugees. Bashar al-Assad considers them little more than a weapon. By Dr. Bente Scheller
Hello Mr President - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Becomes Turkey’s New ‘Uberpresident’ Blog The result of the election in Turkey confirms Erdoğan's leading position but also means the dismanteling of democratic structures and civil liberties as well as the continuous war on Kurds. With a consolidated AKP, the future looks hard for opposition parties. By Charlotte Joppien
Long Live Stalin! Putin’s Politics of Memory Blog Putin’s politics of memory constitutes a key pillar of the social legitimisation of his authoritarian regime.The rehabilitation of Stalin is strongly correlated with the growth of the neo-imperialistic worldview in Russian society. By Adam Balcer
Women Do Belong in Sports Commentary It is hardly surprising that women actively participate in sports — even in the North Caucasus, a Muslim-majority region where religion dominates people’s daily lives. But as a rule here, public opinion plays an essential role in all aspects of life, including sports. Yet, recently young women started to make choices in favor of their hobbies. By Anastasia Rasulova
Government Sides With Coal Business Against Citizens Ecology and Business 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. By Larisa Koynova
Government Sides With Coal Business Against Citizens Ecology and Business 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. By Larisa Koynova
Government Sides With Coal Business Against Citizens Ecology and Business 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. By Larisa Koynova
Amateur Football in Russia Interview 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.
World Cup on a Swamp Construction as Destruction 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. By Aleksandra Korolyova