Here is the Eastern European Left Media Outlet - ELMO’s first bi-monthly newsletter of 2023. You can find below some highlights from ELMO members platforms’ articles.
Feb 23
There has been much discussion about the Ukrainian far-right during the past year since the Russian invasion began - but also even before. Some people would go as far as to claim that this far-right is so strong that they basically define the Ukrainian state through it; others, on the other hand, say it is an insignificant political force.
Спільне / Commons share an interview with their editor, Taras Bilous, for New Politics magazine. In this interview, Bilous sheds a better light on the strength of the Ukrainian far-right, its recent perspectives and actions, and how the left resists it - especially after the start of the war.
Read the full interview in English here: https://bit.ly/3lRlXVy
Feb 22
LeftEast shares an article on the "Global Sites of Border Violence: Exploring Borders on the Western Balkans" event, organised by Unis Resist Border Controls on November 16th, 2022, together with the original video of the event. The event was focused on border violence and resistance to this violence in the Western Balkans.
The Western Balkans route has stopped receiving media attention, but the situation of refugees on the borders of Fortress EU continues to be dire. The event panelists discuss the fates of refugees in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as they navigate violent border regimes and forge emerging solidarities.
Read the full article in English (including the event video) here: https://bit.ly/3kjsKqG
Feb 17
On February 9th, on Fókuszban, a Hungarian-language show on the Public Broadcasting Service of Vojvodina / Radio Television of Serbia, András Juhász and Tibor Meszmann talked about their article from ELMO's migration series, titled "Drifters in the Making: Labour Migration from Serbia and the (Re)production of (Trans)national Inequalities". Aside from the article itself, focusing on Serbian migrant workers in CEE, András and Tibor also talk about the series in general, as well as the ELMO network.
Watch the whole show here: https://bit.ly/3YGBvtZ
Read the article in English on LeftEast here: https://tinyurl.com/serbian-workers
At the end of the article, you can also find the text in Serbo-Croatian (on Mašina and Radnička prava), in Hungarian (on Mérce), in Ukrainian (on Спільне / Commons), in Romanian (on Platzforma and Gazeta De Artă Politică), and in Bulgarian (on Диверсия and Барикада)
Feb 15
Platzforma shares an article by Catana Cătălina on the Russian state's dehumanization of the LGBT community and how it uses it in conspiracy theories to promote masculinized nationalism - a kind of discourse that often occurs in the rest of Eastern Europe as well, but also in the West and across the globe.
"Against the background of the war against Ukraine, Russia is strengthening its authoritarian control at home. In late November 2022, Russia de facto criminalized 'LGBT propaganda', making any mention of 'non-traditional values' punishable by law."
"State-sanctioned homophobia, along with conservative orthodoxy and paternalistic authoritarianism, is an essential pillar in the construction of the post-Soviet Russian national identity that Nikita Sleptcov labels 'conservative heteronationalism'. It encompasses the preservation and promotion of so-called 'traditional values' - which must be fundamentally opposed to 'Western values' - according to which any deviation from the heterosexual norm is a form of cultural pollution, moral corruption and, in general, a national threat. The LGBT community is not only depicted as a demasculinizing factor of the nation, but also as a foreign import of Western imperialism that continues to spread, threatening the traditional family and by extension the Russian nation. Such rhetoric, couched in a religious discourse of 'good' and 'bad' values, has been exploited by the Russian regime for more than a decade. "
Read the full article in Romanian here: https://bit.ly/3Kammg4
Feb 15
In a long-read analytical article on the Slovak economy from the turn of the century, Karmína evaluates the situation in which trade unions and workers in Slovakia find themselves today, after the last twenty years.
The end of 2019 marks the ending of several years of growth for the Slovak economy, replaced by two years of pandemic tremors. A sharp price hike followed, intensified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to a decline in real wages. Today, the Slovak economy (much like its European counterparts) is on the brink of another recession.
However, each crisis creates the assumptions for a new period of revival and boom. Although for many individual enterprises the crisis is a disaster, from a social point of view, it is always an opportunity for capital to dictate conditions in its favor thanks to rising unemployment and the decreasing purchasing power of wages. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask with what kind of experience from the struggle from the previous economy, and in what condition Slovak workers are entering this period - and what is likely to await them in it.
Read the full article in Slovak here: https://bit.ly/3lskcOz
Feb 9
February 9th marks the 450th anniversary of the bloody suppression of the Croatian–Slovene Peasants' Revolt against their feudal lords (9th February 1573). On the occasion, Radnička prava shares an article by Filip Peruzović - a review of a Yugoslav movie from 1975 on the subject of the revolt.
" ...this Saturday, February 11, the town of Donja Stubica commemorates the 450th anniversary of the Peasants' Revolt, one of the most important events in Croatian history. That winter, long ago, the oppressed serfs led by Matija Gubec bravely stood up against their class enemy, the feudal lords of noble origin embodied in the infamous Franjo Tahija (Ferenc Tahy). The sons and daughters of the peasants fought with everything they could get their hands on against the armored and trained professional army, which in the end would have met its god if a little more armored and trained professional army had not come to its aid."
"The first film made about Matija Gubec is also the second Croatian feature film ever – titled "Matija Gubec" and directed by Aleksandar Binički from 1917, which unfortunately has been lost and only one photograph remains of it. The second and last one is the "Peasants' Revolt 1573" (titled "Anno Domini 1573" for international audiences) by Vatroslav Mimica from 1975, and that is exactly what we will deal with in this article... It is one of the most complex projects not only of Croatian but also of Yugoslav cinematography."
"Although Mimica drew inspiration for his screen adaptation from August Šenoa's novel "Peasants' revolt" (from 1877), Miroslav Krleža's "Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh" (1935 - 1936) and the study of historical documents when writing the screenplay, he did not blindly follow any of the existing templates but instead opted for his own unique artistic vision. For Mimica, the hero is clearly not a single person but the whole people, therefore he did not want to mythologize one man but to point to the struggle of an entire class. This is in accordance with his beliefs as a former partisan and participant in the People's Liberation Struggle, as well as the period of socialism in which he lived, in which the idea of egalitarianism ruled (at least on paper)."
Read the original article in Croatian here: https://bit.ly/3XhmSMc
Feb 7
Southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria were hit by a series of earthquakes, the most devastating of which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale. As the death toll - which is in the thousands - continues to rise, and international help (including from the wider region of Eastern Europe) is being sent, Alarm shares an article by Laura Vassileva discussing the current situation in the region and stressing some of the man-made dangers that have contributed to the catastrophic situation.
"Due to its geographical location, Turkey is one of the most active earthquake areas in the world. [...] Many citizens also remember the strong earthquake of 1999, which hit Kocaeli province east of Istanbul and left 18 thousand dead. At that time, the earthquake reached 7.6 on the Richter scale."
"The 40-second tremor on Sunday night was caused by the collision of the Arabian tectonic plate with the Eurasian plate. Between them is a small Anatolian Block, on which Turkey lies. According to geologists, such a strong earthquake means that the plates move horizontally by five meters, and aftershocks can last for days, weeks, even months. Therefore, buildings continue to collapse. In addition, independent journalists draw attention to non-compliance with some regulations that have been in place for the construction of buildings since 1999 and were introduced precisely on the basis of frequent earthquakes in the region. What's more, many buildings in the region were built before 1999 and the necessary modifications were not carried out. Despite the Turkish proverb 'Geography is destiny', the region could have been better prepared for the disaster."
Read the full article in Czech here: https://bit.ly/40xtR6B
Feb 2
In Hungary, the ÉTMOSz trade union managed to successfully win a wage increase for the workers of the Robert Bosch Automotive Steering company situated in the village of Maklár, Mérce reports. The union managed to win this increase by pressuring the company through previously scheduling a strike for February 1st.
According to the union, the wage negotiations with Bosch ended successfully, and the issue of a wage increase that had been going on for months was finally resolved. In addition to the previously agreed 10%, workers are now supposed to receive an additional 5% increase in their basic salary.
Read the full article in Hungarian here: https://bit.ly/3l6MxtH
JANUARY
Jan 31
Listen to the Eastern European Left Media Outlet - ELMO's panel discussion on transnational migration in Central Eastern Europe (CEE).
Invited speakers: Attila Melegh (Hungary), Goran Lukić (Slovenia), Marta Stojić Mitrović (Serbia), Olena Fedyuk (Ukraine). Moderator: Marko Miletić
The discussion is a concluding event of ELMO’s thematic article series called “Transnational migration in CEE from intersectional perspectives of race, gender, class and citizenship” published between 13th-30th January. To access the series in English and in local languages (Romanian, Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian), use this link: https://tinyurl.com/ELMOmigration
Video of the Zoom discussion (on Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1211275839815786
Jan 13 - Jan 30
ELMO launches a multilingual thematic article series, consisting of 5 parts and this introduction. The general theme of the ELMO series is transnational migration in the broadest sense of “mobility in terms of human movement across national borders” (Yeoh and Ramdas 2014). The articles were published simultaneously in several languages on ELMO member platforms between 17th-30th January.
Read the whole introduction in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/ms327ykc
In Bulgarian on Диверсия, in Romanian on Gazeta De Artă Politică and in Serbo-Croatian on Radnička prava (published on Monday).
In the first part of ELMO's migration themed articles series, read an analysis of different studies about how Ukrainian refugees see their future and about who (can) leave, return, why and in which conditions, in Anastasiya Riabchuk's article "Who will Stay and Who Will Return? Divergent Trajectories of Ukrainian War Refugees in the EU".
Read the whole article in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/whowillstay
Find the text in Ukrainian on Спільне / Commons, in Serbo-Croatian on Mašina and Radnička prava, in Romanian Gazeta De Artă Politică and Platzforma, in Bulgarian on Диверсия and Барикада, and in Hungarian on Mérce.
In the second part of ELMO's article series about transnational migration in CEE, read Oksana Dutchak's article about enforced single motherhood of Ukrainian refugees - "Together We Stand: Enforced Single Motherhood and Ukrainian Refugees’ Care Networks."
Read the whole article in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/singlemotherhood
Find the text in Ukrainian on Спільне / Commons, in Serbo-Croatian on Mašina and Radnička prava, in Romanian Gazeta De Artă Politică and Platzforma, in Bulgarian on Диверсия and Барикада, and in Hungarian on Mérce.
In the third article in our transnational migration from CEE series, Celine Cantat analyzes how Hungary's anti-migration policies are related to EU border regimes, Europeanism and East-West (economic) relations.
Read "Citizenship and Exclusion in Contemporary Hungary" in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/citizenship-exclusion
Find the text in Hungarian on Mérce, Ukrainian on Спільне / Commons, in Serbo-Croatian on Mašina and Radnička prava, in Romanian on Platzforma and Gazeta De Artă Politică, in Bulgarian on Диверсия and Барикада.
The fourth article in ELMO's transnational migration in CEE series, talks about Serbian migrant workers in CEE, with a section dedicated to health care workers.
Read András Juhász and Tibor T Meszmann's article "Drifters in the Making: Labour Migration from Serbia and the (Re)production of (Trans)national Inequalities" in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/serbian-workers
Find the text in Serbo-Croatian on Mašina and Radnička prava, in Hungarian on Mérce, in Ukrainian on Спільне / Commons, in Romanian on Platzforma and Gazeta De Artă Politică, in Bulgarian on Диверсия and Барикада.
The fifth and last article of ELMO's transnational migration in CEE series analyzes migrant labour from Eastern Europe, West Africa and South Asia in the Italian agribusiness
Read Irene Peano and Chiara Busca's article "Where Have Eastern Europeans Gone? Made-In-Italy Agribusiness, Mobility Control, And The Great Resignation " in English on LeftEast: https://tinyurl.com/ItalianAgribusiness
Find the text in Serbo-Croatian on Mašina and Radnička prava, in Ukrainian on Спільне / Commons, in Hungarian on Mérce, in Romanian on Platzforma and Gazeta De Artă Politică, in Bulgarian on Диверсия and Барикада.
Read all parts of the series here: https://tinyurl.com/ELMOmigration
Jan 12
In Serbia, the workers of the Zijin Copper company in the city of Bor are organising a protest today at 15:30 CET, Mašina reports. The company's trade unions have called for this protest against the company's new work regulations, which, as they say, were implemented unilaterally by the company's leadership without consulting them.
In the letter they sent to the authorities, the unions stated that the new rulebook "significantly reduces the rights" of employees, and that with it, the employer avoided harmonizing labor prices with the decision of the Social and Economic Council of Serbia. Thus, the letter states, the employer "ignored the representatives of the ministry who attended the negotiations as well as the position of the Ministry of Economy that the rights of workers and trade unions must not be reduced".
Read the full article in Serbian here: https://bit.ly/3XshfLl
Jan 6
On this day 175 years ago (6th January 1848), Bulgarian revolutionary, poet, and anarchist Hristo Botev was born. On this occasion, Барикада shares his introductory article in the 4th edition of the "Zname" newspaper, published on 5th January 1875 and titled "The only salvation for our people lies in revolution"
Read the full article in Bulgarian here: https://bit.ly/3GMZCke
Jan 4
To start off the new year, Radnička prava share their general overview of workers' actions during the past year in Croatia. Starting with 2019, Radnička prava provides a yearly overview of workers' actions reported in relevant Croatian media outlets after the end of each year.
In 2022, in Croatia, the yearly report includes mostly workers strikes and protests. Various other forms of workers' activities have also been noted, such as an organised sick leave in support of a colleague, a demand to receive due severance pay, the May Day march, a refusal to start work until payments are guaranteed - and even more disruptive actions of individuals workers aimed personally at their bosses who hadn't paid them.
Read the full article in Croatian here: https://bit.ly/3idWtjS