Interviews

99 Ukraine deserves better analysis than it has An interview with Cédric Gras Ukraine has never been very high on the French agenda and this is the main difference with Russia.

The memory of the Prague Spring

106 1968 in Prague and Bratislava

Dieter Segert The Prague Spring was originally the name of a musical festival that took part in the town every spring. In 1968, it became the description of a political hope. Yet, there was strong resistance against attempted reforms to give socialism a human face.

111 Contemporary witnesses of change

Iris Kempe

114 Three weeks before the occupation.

An interpreter’s memories Tamara Reiman

History

121 Shifting empires. The Treaty of Nystad turns 300 Grzegorz Szymborski Three hundred years on, the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia, still has a strong legacy today.

Art, Culture and Society

127 A female voice from Sarajevo

Krzysztof Czyżewski In post-war Sarajevo a war is waged to win the future which had been taken away by the living ghosts of the past. The frontlines are nonetheless changing and now different people are pushed underground, stigmatised and treated as if they do not belong to the community.

133 The living and the dead

A conversation with Grzegorz Kwiatkowski

138 The strength of being regional as presented at Art Market Budapest Art from the Visegrad Countries is in the focus of attention at the region’s leading international art fair in 2021. Founder and Director of Art Market Budapest Attila Ledényi spoke about the reasons why.

Stories and Ideas

141 Radiophobia. Why the fallout of unscientific myths from Chernobyl still prevail Michael Martin Richter

Eastern Café

147 Life as a Moscow correspondent

Luke Harding

151 A gripping tale of business and politics Adam Reichardt

155 Establishing a continental balance

Jacek Hajduk

159 A post-mortem monument

Paulina Małochleb

164 Where is Eastern Europe heading?

Maryana Prokop