cafebabel.com

Europe reacts: what Gaddafi’s expiration means

('Matthieu Amar\xc3\xa9',) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:58:29 -0000

On 20 October the world saw a mediatised repeat of bloody images and videos of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein on their deathbeds: Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, 69, was killed in his hometown of Sirte. French, US and British forces were part of the Nato airstrikes in the Libyan civil war which began in February 2011. Read presidential and prime ministerial postcards from Poland, Malta, Italy, France and Germany after the news broke

Nichi Vendola: is communism the only alternative to Berlusconi?

('Neil Saddington',) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:45:00 -0000

He's catholic, homosexual, a communist, an environmentalist and an opposition candidate to Silvio Berlusconi in the yet-to-be-decided primary elections. In the face of negative forecasts and senior party officials he's a two-time winner of the regional elections in Puglia, and the 52-year-old has noticeable support for his ideas

Communism perspectives: 'discontinuous history of art in eastern Europe'

('Oliver',) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 14:00:00 -0000

3 October marked twenty years after the fall of the communist regime. One exhibition in Paris this summer asked the central question: is there any value in the question of 'east-west’ opposition today?

Greece crisis: profiling rich, scot-free yacht-owners

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:45:00 -0000

The economic flavour of the Greek crisis tastes different for those on top - the shipowners, the yachting association bosses - than the diet prescribed for the masses. In Athens though, the latter rage against the state rather than the privileged classes. Lucky richies

'Come to Romania': quest to brand Bucharest

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:15:32 -0000

Forging a skate culture, redesigning lei banknotes and offering a story to tourists, aside from the palace of parliament hotspot, the result of dictator Ceaucescu's tearing down a third of the city in communist times. These are just some of the ideas to boost the image and GDP of a crisis-riddled country

Stalin, rock music and bad weather: story behind suicides in Lithuania

('Kate Stansfield',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:58:28 -0000

The River Neris splits Vilnius down the middle: to the North lies the university, the stadium and terraces with views; to the south is the heart of the capital: cobbled, colourful, and impeccable. But a sinister notice hangs from one of its bridges, followed by a telephone number

The 'M' word: breaking the Bulgarian complex

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:27:34 -0000

In January 2009, Sofia’s then-mayor and current PM banned anti-government protests after citizen disillusion with the country’s corruption; Bulgaria is officially the poorest EU state, according to Transparency International. One year on, the remnants of a ‘protest culture’ lie in the urban, cultural and mediatic fragmentation of a society rooted in tradition, the past - and the mafia, to an extent

‘Many people in Bulgaria are left-wing - but don’t dare to say it’

('Andrew Burgess',) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:35:51 -0000

With only 18% of the vote in the last legislative elections in September 2009, the Bulgarian socialist party (BSP) is nowadays a rather sluggish opposition. Its leaders, nostalgic former communists, are joined on the left of the political spectrum by youngsters with ideas and dreams. Part two in a five part 'EU crisis on the ground' city series

Kinda green: five myths about sustainable development in Bulgaria

('Hanna Sankowska',) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:17:57 -0000

Ah, the Bulgarians. They're relatively apathetic. Most companies are interested in either doing only the legally required minimum for the environment or in using their ‘green’ activities as marketing tools. But counterintuitive though it may seem, the financial crisis actually promotes sustainability

European bloggers describe their Berlin walls

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:11 -0000

Monday is 9 November, the day when the Berlin wall was brought down. To reflect on this iconic modern historical event for the eurogeneration, citizen journalists from five cafebabel.com local teams - Sofia, Budapest, Turin, Strasbourg and Istanbul - simultaneously blogged one day about the walls they see in their cities

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

What communism means to three central and eastern European women

('Kate Robinson',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin wall, what does communism mean to Cecilia, 22, from Bulgaria, Katharina, 20, from Slovakia and Anna, 28, from the Czech Republic?

Seville: Cuba, communists and anticapitalists for the elections!

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:59:50 -0000

Spotlight on the epicentre of southern Spain, whose ruling socialist-communist government leans more towards Cuba than Europe. In the land of the mileuristas - so-called '1000 euros a month-ers' - the rude gap is being bridged with an increasingly politically alternative feeling before the European elections in June 2009

Czech Republic: EU equals protectionism equals communism?

('Lydia Bigos',) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:39:02 -0000

With different visions of the market, politics and the EU, this is a country which is torn between its new role as the centre of Europe and the rejection of any type of communism

Moldova: violent disturbances in Europe’s poorest country

('Andrew Christie',) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:31:21 -0000

20, 000 demonstrators storm the parliament following the communists’ re-election

Bulgaria: energy in transition

('Darren Thompson',) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:15:00 -0000

Bulgaria was the member state most affected by the gas crisis of January 2009. It is currently dealing with problems of corruption, the old dependence on Russia for energy, questions of national pride and 'the stupid decisions' in Brussels - not forgetting ecology

June 2009 European elections: everyone to the left!

('Sarah Gray',) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:00:00 -0000

Three new ‘left of the left wing’ parties were created in 2008 in France alone. Across the whole continent, anticapitalist voices are gathering together, with their sights set on the 2009 European elections, for better and for worse

God is a communist and unaware of it

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:26:47 -0000

Now that the largest catholic political party are no longer present in parliament and the centre-left are significantly weakened, it is the Vatican who are playing the role of the greatest opposition to the Italian government. Others however denounce the church as ‘crypto-communist’

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

Politicians work 65 hours - so why don't you?

('Matthew Pagett',) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:15:00 -0000

The fight over the length of the work week begins on 16 - 17 December in the European parliament. Socialists and liberals will face off in the chambers, in spite of some internal divisions in the political groups

Photos: Prague Spring, forty years on

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:30:00 -0000

On 21 August Prague commemorated forty years of it’s famous democratic ‘spring’, which ended revolt in the capital this past century. The spontaneous protest caught the world by surprise, before it was reprimanded by the Soviet regime. Images

Petr Uhl: ‘I prefer to call it the Czechoslovak spring’

('Chris Yeomans',) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:20:27 -0000

He stood on the barricades of Paris and Prague in 1968 and later produced the Charter 77 civic initiative. The man who once smoked cigarettes in prison with former president Václav Havel looks back over his sixty-six years, but also to Europe and the future

Drinking trademark Budweiser beer in Bohemia

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Czech beer came to the world’s attention again in April after a century-old dispute with the US over the naming rights to its Budweiser beer was settled in a Luxembourg court

Czech cinema in the 'Hollywood of the east'

('Ed Saunders',) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Light comedies and export hits: Czech cinema rides on the wave of success. But in Prague young fresh filmmakers and independent cinemas push against the mainstream

Europe’s eastern bloc palaces

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:30:00 -0000

Berlin, Bucharest, Vilnius and Warsaw - four examples of what to do with those eastern state building dinosaurs

Cuba: backstreet with an escape route

('Erin Woycik',) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

In the first of our ‘rock and backpack’ series, we discover Havana - the cultural centre of a Cuba in which everyone has the ability to produce something, but few express themselves

The future is death metal-inspired art in Kosovo

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Contemporary art is just one bright face of the Kosovo prism, from which the works of the likes of 29-year-old visual artist Artan Balaj refract

Nicolae Comanescu: painting with dust in Bucharest

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:33:00 -0000

In the truest sense of the words, the Romanian artist, 39, produces art from the dusty rubble of his home city

Jan T. Gross: Poland's 'anti-semitic' attitude

('Sarah Turpin',) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Public opinion in Poland is stirred after the American professor's post-war publication is released

1968: a tour of Europe's revolts

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Spain, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and Germany - spinning through Europe's uprisings during that infamous year of rebellion

Situationism: ideas in conflict

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Rue de Seine, Paris 1952. ‘Never work’ is chalked on a wall. Two words about the philosophy of the 'Situationists' who transformed May 1968 and who still inspire activists today

Schengen: Slovenia and Italy help each other

('Kate Martin',) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

When Slovenia became part of the Schengen zone on 21 December 2007, the 280km barrier separating it from Italy fell. It had been symbol of the iron curtain and the cold war that have divided Europe for decades

Jeta Xharra: ‘Kosovo's status is not a solution to everything’

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Playwright, journalist and Kosovo's answer to Jeremy Paxman - the ‘pushy, irritating’ TV presenter as she describes herself, 29, exposes local politicians in a society she vouches is 'fed-up'

Mikhail Gorbachev does Louis Vuitton

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Politicians in advertising, advertising in politics – an ambivalent relationship

Estonian, language of the future?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

From September 2007, the Russian minority have to officially learn Estonian in secondary schools - Irene Kaosaar, the head of linguistic minorities, on a 'transition' not a 'reform'

Immigration: the plight of Poles in France

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Poland has been an official EU country since 1 May 2004. While Poles have the right to move freely around France, things get a lot more complicated when it comes to getting a job

Lithuania: a stranger in the south of the north

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Since achieving independence in 1990, it has strived to walk steadily on its own. On the eve of reaching adulthood as a self-governing country, Vilnius is like a little girl who has been picked on too many times by her bigger neighbours

When Barroso was a communist

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 03:41:00 -0000

Watch the video of the current president of the European Commission when he was a student leader in 1975

Men creating men in Belarus

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Art is politics - the second part in our series of profiles of artists trying to resist a ‘cultural Chernobyl’ in a Belarus stifled by president Aleksander Loukachenko

György Dragomán: 'one can really see how a dictatorship functions through the eyes of a child'

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Transylvania-born Hungarian author, 34, uses an unconventional narrator to express the horrors of a totalitarian system

Jani Virk: 'Making folklore of Balkan culture led us into a terrible war'

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The 45–year-old writer and TV journalist from Ljubliana has lived and worked in Düsseldorf, Chicago and London, and published widely

Ceauescu, eternally shadowing Romania

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

For the first time, an exhibition in Bucharest lifts the veil on Romania’s Communist past

Carlos Malamud: 'Europe’s policy is ‘wait and see'

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

In Cuba, the Castro administration is on the verge of ‘going to a better place’

Erri de Luca, Neapolitan, generation '68

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Winner of the 2002 Prix Fémina for Foreign Writers for his splendid Montedidio – written in 'very Neapolitan Italian' – Erri de Luca reflects on Europe, the Mediterranean and the passing of generations

Olga Karatch: 'Lukashenko takes EU leaders for great lumps'

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:05:00 -0000

The German presidency of the EU judged the local elections on January 14 in Belarus ‘undemocratic’. The country’s opposition has already announced its intention of contesting Lukashenko

Stalin's jackboots

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Fifty years after the 1956 revolution in Hungary, and Budapest's emblematic monuments betray a continuing uncertainty - what exactly did it all mean?

Oscar for 'The Lives of Others'

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

German film director Florian Henckel's feature debut shines in Hollywood with an elegant and assured spy thriller

Austria - after the Mozart marathon

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Last year, on January 27, Mozart Year opened with much celebration. Have we learned anything about the musical genius?

‘The North Korean regime annuls individuality. I immortalised that’

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

Pierpaolo Koss exclusively reveals what it is like to be one of the few Western artists to have worked in one of the world’s most isolated countries

„We are not experiencing a „new 1956””

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:00:00 -0000

Fifty years after the revolution against Stalinism, Hungarians face a most serious democratic crisis.