Baltic Republics

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)

• Read the special edition Vilnius, Вiльнюс or ווילנע: spotlight on Lithuanian capital’s tiny ethnic communities
• Ladies what oppose Belarus in Vilnius
• From San Diego to Vilnius: all Jew you need for a library in Lithuania
• Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'
• Nightlife in Vilnius: ethnic minority benders

Estonia: blowing hot and cold in the eurozone

In the midst of the euro crisis Estonia is saying goodbye to its kroon and on 1st January 2011 it introduced the single currency. Given the problems in Ireland, Portugal and Spain, this is one of the few pieces of good news for monetary union this year

by n- ost @ // 03/01/11

baltic republics, currency, economy, monetary union, euro, estonia

University-educated flee and woo Lithuania: emigration and erasmus

An increasing number of students are asking professor Žilvinas Martinaitis at the University of Vilnius to let them take their exams at the end of May. This would allow them to go abroad - most popularly, to the UK, Ireland or Scandinavia - to work, and return with some extra money in October, a month after the official term start. Lithuanian and eramus students, professors and politicians explain the phenomenon

by Krisztian Gal @ // 19/05/10

baltic republics, eucrisis on the ground, money, lithuania, economy, brain drain, labour

Berlin wall: version Vilnius 2009

Nostalgic? Nearly two decades after ‘die Wende’, as the Germans call it, the Lithuanian capital has become the EU capital of culture. In 2009 though, it is still fighting its old demons. Russian symbols have been erased without mercy. A cold soviet wind blows through the Baltic republic with regards to energy. Belarusian students find exile in a special university four hours from Minsk. The domestic brain drain is ongoing. Three journalists plus one photographer and one videomaker (see below) hunt the clash of cultures in our monthly cities stop: 'EU Debate on the ground'

• Read the special edition Berlin wall: version Vilnius 2009
• Energy in Lithuania: tick A, B or C for 'nuclear', 'renewable' or 'both'
• Soviet nostalgia: Russian drink, bunker parties and film in Vilnius
• Visit to the EHU: Belarusian elite university exiled in Vilnius
• 15.5% unemployment, diaspora: Lithuanians try luck elsewhere