On the 5 May, a Viennese public assembled on Judenplatz in the city’s First District to listen to the Israeli philosopher Omri Boehm deliver his ‘Speech to Europe’, the third in the series following Oleksandra Matviichuk (2023) and Timothy Snyder (2019).
From the persecution of transgender persons under Franco to the landmark 2023 ‘trans law’ enabling individuals to change their legal sex, trans rights in Spain have come a long way. But at the social level, transness continues to be pathologized.
Overturning an adherence to cultural classics has historical precedents. For the Soviet avant-garde, revolution meant dispensing with symbols of reverence: everything from Renaissance paintings to Tolstoy. And, in the process, the likes of Mayakovsky left their own work ultimately open to being cancelled, both conceptually and for real.
The EU likes to promote its devotion to human rights, but this agenda falls short when it comes to border regimes, migration and non-European refugees. The new episode of Standard Time reflects on the EP elections, discussing security and foreign policy.
Europe has learnt the need to protect human dignity as inviolable, refuting the myth of national sovereignty and ethnically-based citizenship. But it also embraces these principles as forms of emancipation for Jews and previously colonized nations. This inconsistency endangers both Europe and its past victims.
Voicing opinions to explain political tensions from afar is contentious for those treated as mute subjects. Focusing solely on distant, global decision-making disguises local complexity. Acknowledging the perspectives of East Europeans on Russian aggression and NATO membership helps liberate the oppressed and open up the debate.
Despite far-right rumblings, no populist wave is expected in the Nordic countries. Instead, the EP elections are a battle between centre right and centre left. Alongside migration and defence, environmental agendas have been dominant, with Green parties expected to outperform.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU’s rhetoric on enlargement in the Western Balkans has taken an optimistic turn. Whether that continues depends on the European vote. But whatever the result, it is the political realities that count. And in the Balkans, these are far from consistently pro-European.
Although the EU’s engagement with Central Asia has increased significantly since February 2022, the region is not about to abandon ties with Russia. With the US and above all China also competing for influence in this resource-rich part of the world, Central Asia is undergoing a complex and perilous process of realignment.
The climate of hostility in which the assassination attempt on Robert Fico took place has been a feature of Slovak politics for the past two decades. And Fico has played a decisive role in creating it. How the situation in Slovakia came about – and whether it will continue to deteriorate.
Political instability, recession and environmental crises have contributed to the rising swell of social discontent in Europe’s south. But there is one issue more than any other being capitalised on by the Mediterranean’s resurgent far-right: migration.
In Bulgaria and Romania, the EP elections coincide with national elections. Interminable political instability, corruption and socioeconomic tensions all contribute to voter fatigue. With the far right in the ascendant, 9 June could be a watershed.
Death plays a key role in most religions, moral systems, and legal constructs. Although a heavy topic, talking about it is all the more important to process the grief that it causes. We cover burials, community, and ecology on this grave episode of Standard Time, premiering at 5 PM CEST.
For a comprehensive and informed overview of the political situation across the EU just before the European Parliament election, check out new articles in Eurozine’s ‘Mood of the Union 2024’ series. Covering both the EU itself as well as its eastern European, eastern Mediterranean and global neighbourhoods, the articles provide some key takeaways.
Discontent with ruling parties pervades the Baltic States, bolstering the chances of rightwing populists across the region in the European Parliament elections. Yet the security concerns caused by the ongoing threat from Russia hold Euroscepticsm within bounds.
Since the war in Ukraine, the Visegrád Four group no longer articulates a common voice in the EU. Even the illiberal alliance between Hungary and Poland has come to an end. Yet in various ways, the region still demonstrates to Europe the consequences of the loss of the political centre.