‘Bridge over troubled waters’
We dubbed last year as „A Year Like No Other“. The spirit of that statement contained an implicit expectation that we would overcome at least the political and social problems caused by the pandemic. The pandemic created an open-ended situation where huge social and political changes and interventions became an everyday phenomenon, but often with no foreseeable outcomes.
The blue envelope goes into the red envelope, Or how to organise elections Berlin-style
Barbara Anna Bernsmeier, EU-Russia Civil Society Forum It was in late March when conversations about “election workers” (so called Wahlhelfer*innen) first appeared within my circle of friends. And the word popped up more and more in the following months. The reason? The Berlin senate had announced that people signing up […]
How the results of the Russian elections showed not what it really is
On 17-19 September, 2021, parliamentary elections were held in Russia. According to official data, the United Russia party received about 50% of the votes on party lists and won an overwhelming majority of single-mandate constituencies — the party will again have a constitutional majority in parliament.
None of Us Can Ignore Climate Change
Human activities are changing the climate unprecedentedly. On 9 August, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report warning that many changes are irreversible. Russia is the world’s fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter but so far it is not ready to start the necessary energy transformation.
Colonialism, something from a faraway past only?
To many of us colonialism is something from a faraway past. But is that true? Let us have a close look at our world today and see how (traces of) colonialism still define our worldview and also the way we relate with each other.
If You Don’t Have What You Like, You Like What You Have
At the end of May 2021, an unexpected breakthrough took place after ten months of hanging around in the matter of choosing the Ombudsperson in Poland. For the first time, a candidate has been put forward who has a chance to be selected for this position and meets the standard that the Ombudsperson should meet. At first, I felt great relief and joy. But the more time passes after this good news, the more my face falls.
Peace, progress and human rights: what would Sakharov say now?
On the eve of the centennial of academic Sakharov, I was asked to write a column about what Sakharov means today — yet I am finding it difficult to express my thoughts. As a scientist, a human rights activist and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, academic Sakharov highlighted a full range of contemporary topics — ecology, the extensive growth of resource exploitation, social inequality, racism, and even corruption. You would think, what could be easier?
HIV Infection Is Not Politics
At the end of 2020, the register of NGOs performing the functions of “foreign agents”, which is maintained by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, was significantly expanded, in particular by member organisations of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum.
A Year Like No Other
A New Year Address by the Co-Chairs of the Board of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum ’Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We […]
Women’s Face of the Opposition
Women’s face of the opposition — this issue has not been on the agenda until the election campaign in Belarus. And then we suddenly saw them — strong, stylish, beautiful, and, most importantly, exuding love not hate.
