cafebabel.com

Britain-Europe: confessions of an angry Lib Dem

('dominicmaciver',) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:42:58 -0000

Type 'What Defines an English Person' into google right now and see the top result - this is how unpopular we are with the rest of the world, especially after the UK chose not to join a new EU treaty governing the finance system. Europe has divided a two-headed monster, 'Clammeron', in half: the government led by David Cameron and Nick Clegg since 2010 has been spliced together by iron threads of political contingency

I like Mostar: are there really no tourists who want to go to Bosnia?

('Monica Mircescu',) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:37:19 -0000

Mostar and I go back a long way. Ours is the story of a missed encounter – in 1998. Fast forward to September 2011: cafebabel.com organises the annual network meeting in Dubrovnik. On learning that the city is only 150 kilometres away from Mostar, I decide to revisit the city I never reached

Macedonia the Great: historical obsessions and Skopje 2014

('Nela Lazarevic',) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:12:04 -0000

The ongoing urban project sounds as if the Macedonian capital were preparing to host the next olympics. It's actually about classical origins: Skopje will be revamped in a neo-classical style with the aim of strengthening national identity, attracting foreign tourists and, according to some, further provoking Greece, in the name of the dispute that started when Macedonia became independent in 1991

Identikit of a pure, indigenous European

('Aatish Pattni',) — Thu, 26 May 2011 12:30:00 -0000

The True Finns are the third largest political party in Finland. Are these nationalists and eurosceptics an exception to the rule in their Nordic region? Alongside the new leader of the National Front party in France, Marine Le Pen, the collection of ‘Indigenous Britons’ in the UK and Italy's Northern League, Europe has never been more inhabited by so-called ‘pure’ Europeans. There are fewer than they would have us believe; at the risk of scaring those who wish it to stay that way

Europe to Dakar: a Lithuanian's journey

('Martynas',) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:26:56 -0000

A student at an English university takes a ten-day research trip to Senegal, playing with the question of openness and difference encountered through travelling. From the old continent, destination western Africa from an anthropological perspective. Travel diary

Self-identification, multiculturalism and erasmus in the EU

('Alexandra Belopolsky',) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:24:20 -0000

In a world where the physical borders are a blur, no wonder the mental ones are blurring as well. With nationalists turning to the 'protection of Europe' rather than the 'protection of the homeland', it is fair to say that the erasmus generation is the face of future Europe. United within itself, far past the division to Germans, French, Poles, or Italians, it's an identity in its own right - even for me

English, British or European? My grandparents on UK in the EU

('Richard Vale',) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:11:36 -0000

According to the Eurobarometer survey of autumn 2009, only 30% of UK citizens believe that our membership of the EU is 'a good thing'. Whilst this meagre piece of one of Eurobarometer’s many brightly-coloured and informative pies is up two points from the last survey, the fact remains that Joe Public fails to engage with the mysterious, supranational, sovereignty-gobbling entity that resides somewhere beyond the Channel

BBC poll 'everybody loves Germany': a German reacts

('hkeet',) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:39:49 -0000

Every year, the British public service broadcaster asks a representative sample of citizens from all corners of the globe which of the 16 largest nations has a positive influence on the world. 2011's answer was the same as the previous few years: of 29, 000 people from 27 different countries, 62% voted for Germany followed by Britain and Australia, with Iran, North Korea and Pakistan lagging behind

Berlusconism, 'Padania', inequalities: should we celebrate 150 years of Italy?

('hkeet',) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:00:00 -0000

On 17 March 1861, Victor-Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of Italy. Now, 150 years later, the question of knowing whether Italian unification should be celebrated has sparked lively debates. The Italian government only decided to make 17 March a public holiday a month ago

Director Roozbeh Behtaji: 'Young Europeans live in an existential no-mans land'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:43:11 -0000

The 30-year-old filmmaker and screenwriter from Gothenburg stands out, not only because he doesn't look like your average Swede, but because he dons a different hat everyday. He played a cap-wearing tourist who becomes a terror suspect because of his looks in his own debut film London Transfer. Time to find out what's under his hat

Nikola Tesla: unknown inventor, national hero in Balkans

('Carol Howard',) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:48:22 -0000

His dream was free electricity for the world with no cables involved. David Bowie has incarnated him in Hollywood and Serbia's biggest airport is named after him. Why is it that we have barely heard of this scientist in western Europe?

View from Belgrade's historical museum: Serbia, Europe and obsessions with history

('Aaron Rowlands',) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:00:36 -0000

The EU is not a compromise on the dream of a proud, independent Serbia, but rather the affirmation of it. The extremists behind such events as the nationalist riots at the gay pride march in October are merely the Serbian answer to a fringe movement in every country that gets louder when the uncertain future requires change. In other countries, radicals might cite immigration or the economy as their cause. In Serbia, they use history

Building a mosque in Warsaw: is it all trouble and strife?

('Peter Robbins',) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:00:00 -0000

Muslims in Poland go back several centuries, beginning with the arrival of tatar settlers in the eastern reaches of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The muslim community in Poland has only recently begun attracting attention, with the building of a mosque financed by a Saudi sponsor in the Warsaw district of Ochota. Not everyone is happy

Vienna, Berlin, Budapest and Paris: blogging city rivers

('cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 10:35:39 -0000

Europe's city rivers are both the place to be in terms of a good old rave - take the A38 ship on the Danube to Bar 25 on the Spree - and also for a spot of nudity or artificial beach time in the summer. Blog snippets from four cafebabel.com local team bloggers, who pay tribute to their watery city icons

Turkey-Israel: credibility and question of anti-semitism

('Karis Eaglestone',) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:18:48 -0000

Since heavy criticism from the Turkish side after the Israeli attack on a Gaza aid ship on 31 May, relations between the two states have entered a further ice age. There has been rising concern in Europe that Turkey is increasingly turning away from the west. A babelian political theorist explains the problems inherent to the Turkish response

Uruguay vs Europe: what world cup identity?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:41:44 -0000

28 countries out, four left. Uruguay aside, the football championship final will definitely feature either Germany or Spain, one of whom could be facing the Netherlands to contend for a title currently held by Italy. It's not about football anymore though – does this bridge a stronger European identity for those of us on the continent, supporters or not?

'Bart de Wever's willingness to nominate Elio Di Rupo for Belgian PM seems a trap'

('Jude Lister',) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:15:00 -0000

Vincent Laborderie, a researcher at the Catholic University of Leuven (UCL), bakes some humble pie for the alarmists with his portrait of post-crisis Belgium

Diary: Vilnius and I, reluctant bedfellows

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:24:52 -0000

The passion evaporated years ago, after the capital became expensive and inconvenient to live in, or maybe since I stopped being a student. However, jobs for a social science graduate with a Lithuanian passport are here. Anecdote from cafebabel.com expat blogger 'Wonderland

Hungarian minorities in Slovakia: small arrangements between enemies

('Jude Lister',) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:30:00 -0000

One week after a law proposing Hungarian nationality to ethnic Hungarians abroad, prime minister Viktor Orbán announced a new era of 'national unity' during his prime ministerial inauguration on 29 May. Hungary is choosing the route of hostile nationalism, much to the delight of Slovak populists

Polish people: 'united in diversity' in Vilnius

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:14:37 -0000

It wasn't the economic weakness of the crisis but the ideological one that harmed Europe most. Who wanted to be be part of the dominoes in the name of solidarity? Unfortunately, the dominoes of each member state provoked nationalist reactions. The region comprising the Lithuanian capital is one of the fewest cities where two nations claim to be at home

Why Hungary and Slovakia are at odds

('euro topics',) — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:09:48 -0000

On 25 May the Slovakian parliament warned Hungary not to offer citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries. The Austrian, Hungarian and Slovakian press accuse the two of using the issue to ignore domestic problems

Greek, Romanian, Albanian: why are these racist terms in Europe?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 -0000

It's a fine line between risky jokes and racist innuendo. Those who manage to be funny while staying on the right side of that line are pretty smart. Nevertheless, at a time when calls to reject that protean scapegoat, the Other, are growing throughout the four corners of the continent, a little self-examination in Europe might not be a bad thing

French, Spanish, Czech and British youth on euroscepticism

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:12:36 -0000

Unpaid interns, taxes, recycling, the parliament in Strasbourg...you name it, our contributors from across the cafebabel.com network have something to say about what irks them most about Europe. 9 May marks sixty years since the Schuman declaration was signed, when it was agreed that France, Germany and others would work together as a federation

Grzegorz Szczygieł, Panjabi MC and an Opel Kadett

('Paulina Dominik',) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:15:00 -0000

The director garnered acclaim from a travel festival in Wroclaw in 2008 for a documentary which took him from being a Polish businessman in Wroclaw to a traveller in Pakistan and Iran, parts of which he covered with the famed postwar car

France's anti-anglicism crusade

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0000

On 30 March 2010, English words like 'newsletter' and 'buzz' ceded their place to expressions created in 'Francomat', a French student contest. Will this initiative by Alain Joyandet, secretary of state for Francophonie, catch on in the rest of Europe?

Cypriot national identity – Turkish, Greek or both?

('Araceli Turmo',) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:30:00 -0000

On either side of the Green Line that has divided the island since 1974, young Cypriots talk about community identities and a general aspiration for unity through European integration

The Netherlands, France, Italy: rise of Europe's right-wing

('sofio',) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0000

After Geert Wilders in Holland, the1 Le Pen family in France gained the votes at the regional elections on 14 March 2010, confirming the positive trend of extreme righ-wing at the old continent. Together with Italy's Lega Nord, these parties represent a practical example of new right populists who do not like to be labelled 'extremists'

Agop J. Hacikyan: 'I don’t feel I am translating my culture into English'

('RenataB',) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:44:37 -0000

The playful Armenian-Canadian author talks his latest novel - hailed as a 'love letter to Istanbul' - straddling continents and his opinions on Turkey in the EU

L.U.C: 'Poland is not just vodka and pretty girl exports'

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Rather than rapping on his new album, producer Lukasz Rostkowski, 29, mixes in historical soundtracks, including the voice of ex-Polish president Lech Walesa. The jazz, trip hop and electro musician explains how a sometimes pessimist view of his country's past has inspired him in his musical projects, for which he has just picked up a 2009 'Passport award' from the journalists at Polityka

Would only a mentally ill man attack the Italian prime minister...

('euro topics',) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Silvio Berlusconi, 73, has spent his second night at the San Raffaele hospital with face wounds after being attacked on 13 December by Massimo Tartaglia, a mentally ill man, during a rally in Milan. The attack has launched a broad discussion about Italy's poisoned political climate. The German, Spanish, Polish and Italian press react

Magyd Cherfi: 'identity and national is a collusion that I don’t get'

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:10:00 -0000

Singing about these issues in concert is something of a déjà vu that the French singer and militant can do without, he says. Interview

Ikea, H&M, Nokia, Zara: a fairytale EU life built on brands

('Kate Stansfield',) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:45:00 -0000

The products we buy all bear the CE marking, French for 'European Conformity'. What if our lives were also conforming to the advertising messages of the leading brands in the European market? The big fishes are swallowing the small ones. Are they also picking away at our identity?

Five reasons why Italian should be Europe's lingua franca

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:00:00 -0000

There are various solutions to fortifying Europe and creating mutual understanding. As far as I am concerned, Dante’s language is perfect for the common good of all Europeans

Low cost airlines lend citizens a 'European' identity

('Nathan Charlton',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Budget travel is a reality for modern Europeans, a part of everyday life. Accounting for its environmental impact may affect the as yet fragile common European identity it lends to flying citizens

Sweden's Cecilia Malmström: 'I'm a politician. It’s not my task to impose an identity on people'

('Pierre-Anthony Canovas',) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0000

The Gothenburg-based politician, 41, has been EU affairs minister since 2006. We talk institutional reform, economic crisis and Turkey in part III of a special edition marking the six-month Swedish presidency of the EU, which began on 1 July

Throw your toys out of the pram

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:06:59 -0000

The Irish kick off after a 'scathing electoral defeat', whilst the Germans can be heard to 'wail like cats'. Weekly language expressions from around Europe

15.5% unemployment, diaspora: Lithuanians try luck elsewhere

('Darren Thompson',) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:13:39 -0000

Whilst Vilnius welcomes visitors from around the world because of its status as the European capital of culture 2009, countless are leaving the country in an attempt to escape widespread unemployment and salaries which are under the European average for the most part

2 days in Warsaw: Solidarnosc, cult Polish documentaries and Berlusconi

('Lydia Bigos',) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:42:13 -0000

For two days at the end of April 2009, the Polish capital becomes the 'centre of Europe' as the EU's largest centre-right party descend on the city. Quality time spent between British, Spanish and Polish colleagues raises an understanding of what the last twenty years mean, and the gap between east and west. Opinion

Giovanni di Lorenzo: 'the values which inspired the creation of the EU are pathetic today'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:30:23 -0000

We speak to an Italian born in Sweden, raised in Rome, who moved to Hannover aged eleven, speaking little German. Today he is the director of German weekly Die Zeit, co-editor of Der Tagesspiegel, author of a bestseller and a TV presenter. We meet in Berlin to discuss the crisis of a marriage of 27 countries on the eve of the European elections between 4 – 7 June 2009: the passion is dead and not enough economic gains to hold it together

'The notion of EU citizenship is just hyprocritical marketing'

('Aatish Pattni',) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0000

For all those people who have settled in other countries in the EU the notion of ‘citizenship’ mixes with that of identity; a European one. All of them will be heading off to vote for their Euro MPs in whichever member state where they have taken up residence between 4 and 7 June

Eur…οpa! As EU elections comes round, 27 European citizens in Athens speak

('Media Consulta',) — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:53:27 -0000

Whether they are from Finland to Cyprus, or Germany and France, the first charter EU member states, as well as from 'newcomer' states Romania and Bulgaria, 27 Athenians talk about their Europe and how they think it should be. The EU elections take place between 4 and 7 June 2009, with 736 seats in the EU parliament open to 9, 000 candidates

London and Berlin reviews of Mark Ravenhill's 'Over There' play

('Sandra Wickert',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:30:46 -0000

Mark Ravenhill’s unconventional play about identical twins who are reunited after growing up in east and west Germany travelled from London to Berlin this spring. Our London reviewer calls it a timely commentary on the EU’s current political troubles. Our Berlin reviewer wonders if the British director reproaches the Germans with the repression of history. Cross-reviews from the Royal Court and Schaubühne theatres

Islands: some drops of Europe in the ocean

('Joss Corner',) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:00:00 -0000

Islands and archipelagos, Antarctic territories, lively societies and cultures across the equator. The regions at the far reaches of the EU are attached to the continent by legal texts. But identity is not defined on the basis of decree

Italy's communist revival: return to the hammer and sickle?

('Kate Martin',) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:58:53 -0000

In preparation for the European elections in June 2009, the Italian communist parties are dusting off the old symbols (the hammer and sickle and the Bandiera Rossa or ‘red flag song’), attending rallies and facing the usual internal disagreement between factions

Why boo the French national anthem at a football stadium?

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:27:03 -0000

Will revolution soon hit the grandstands of France? After the Marseillaise was booed during a match against Tunisia in October, several politicians expressed their rage. It's a problem which says a lot about society in general

Europe: where homemade cheese disappears

('Sarah Gray',) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0000

As do passport stamps...but peace, diversity and change prevail. cafebabel.com readers choose their three terms which best define the Europe we’re still dreaming of. Anthology.

‘Ch’tis’: most successful French film since 1945

('Luise Franke',) — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:53:11 -0000

One million more tickets, and ‘Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis’ (‘Welcome to the Sticks’) will become the most successful film in France since 1945. Can the French comedy break all box office records?

Exploiting unpaid interns: rites of passage?

('c\xc3\xa9dric AUDINOT',) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Associations like Generation Precarity or Fairwork expose an exploited flexible labour force with intermittent incomes and no job security

Laura Cesana: 'There should be more Erasmus programmes for teachers'

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

A linguist and voyager, the Italian painter transported her Jewish origins from the United States to Portugal, where her multiple identities are exhibited by a flourishing brushstroke

Olympic games: Europe up in arms over Tibet

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

A huge victory for some, enormous disappointment for others. For the first ever time, the Olympic torch has been extinguished under mass pressure, as Europe makes itself heard