In the framework of our editorial mission Multikulti on the Ground , cafebabel.com is posting over 40 young journalists and photographers 'on the ground' in the context of multiculturalism in European societies.


  • Rome
  • Vilnius
  • Berlin
  • Seville
  • Warsaw
  • Strasbourg
  • athens
  • Paris
  • Copenhagen
  • vienna

Vilnius, Вiльнюс or ווילנע: spotlight on Lithuanian capital’s tiny ethnic communities

Lithuania has enjoyed a rich multicultural heritage since being part of the Grand Duchy. Independence was restored for the third time in its history after the collapse of the soviet union in 1990. The motto of this second republic echoes the European union, which the northern country became a member state of in 2004 - ‘Tautos jega vienybeje!’, or ‘strength through unity’ (to the EU’s ‘united through diversity’). A Spanish-Italian-French-German-Russian-British team of journalists and photographers take the temperature of multiculturalism in ‘Vilna’ by focusing on the Jewish (0.3%), Belarusian (1.3%) and Baltic Roma (0.1%) populations. In the capital, Vilnius, dynamic 'foreigners' gradually make a name for themselves in institutions as varied as universities, NGOs, bookshops and nightclubs. In images, we draw multicultural parallels with the buildings which occupy just under a third of the city’s area (Image: (cc) Severin Sadjina/ flickr)

FEATURE Ladies what oppose Belarus in Vilnius

Ladies what oppose Belarus in Vilnius

Belarus is just 40 kilometres away from the Lithuanian capital. Belarusian human rights campaigners use Vilnius as an asylum and distribution centre - yet the Lithuanian president keeps up a good relationship with the Belarusian despot

by Christina Felschen @ // 06/01/12

alexander lukashenko, dictature, winter, vilnius

FEATURE Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'

Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'

Less than 3, 000 Roma live in Lithuania. Representing 0.1% of the population, there are still enough Baltic 'gypsies' to serve as a scapegoat in a country feeling squeezed by the crisis. However, in one Lithuanian village, Romualda, Svetlana, Konstantin and Konsela are helping the community to lift its head

by Emmanuel Haddad @ // 06/01/12

roma, multikulti on the ground, discrimination, school, multiculturalism, integration, drugs, vilnius, society, poverty, union of soviet socialist republic

INVESTIGATION Nightlife in Vilnius: ethnic minority benders

Nightlife in Vilnius: ethnic minority benders

6.7% Polish, 6.3% Russian, 1.2% Belarusian, 0.7% Ukrainian, 0.1% Yiddish, 0.09% Tartar…approximately 115 communities of ethnic minorities were listed in this vein in a 2001 census in Lithuania. How integrated are these groups in local society? One way of finding out is by hitting the tiles

by Cristina Cartes @ // 05/01/12

multikulti on the ground, nightlife, ethnic minorities, discrimination, integration, vilnius, society, union of soviet socialist republic, language, best of cafebabel.com

INVESTIGATION From San Diego to Vilnius: all Jew you need for a library in Lithuania

From San Diego to Vilnius: all Jew you need for a library in Lithuania

There is nothing more multicultural in Lithuania right now than the new library which opened in the capital of this Baltic state on 16 December. The concept is simple: all books, films and music must be about either a Jewish subject, writer or artist

by SoniaZ @ // 03/01/12

multikulti on the ground, judaism, culture, vilnius, society

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