Analysis

Making tracks in Georgia: Elsewhere in emerging Europe

Our weekly digest of articles about emerging Europe published elsewhere this week, all of which caught our eye and all of which are well worth your time. Listing them here, however, does not necessarily mean that we agree with every word, nor do they necessarily reflect Emerging Europe’s editorial policy.

Make tracks in Georgia

From the snow-capped Caucasus mountains to the balmy Black Sea, from the rolling vineyard-dotted hills of Kakheti to the rocky cliffs of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world.

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In Slovakia, green hopes spring from a new crop of leaders

Green politics are making a surprise comeback in Slovakia, thanks to a new generation of politicians and activists.

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Marina Abramovic comes home, and comes clean

The artist received a lavish welcome when she returned to Belgrade, Serbia, the city of her birth, for her first exhibition there in nearly 50 years.

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Russia pulls Transnistria strings, with eye on Ukraine

Transnistria is emerging as the model for Russia’s strategy towards frozen conflicts across its ex-Soviet backyard, experts in Moldova say.

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Poland’s double-game on defence matters

Poland’s decision to buy American F-35 aircraft sounds like Warsaw snubbing European projects. However, the EU member state, is also in breach of its commitments.

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Would-be Autocrats: What do Orbán and Kaczyński have in common?

Authoritarian populism poses a systemic threat to European integration. History teaches us that in cases of democratic breakdown, autocrats have justified their power consolidation by labelling their political opponents as existential threats.

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The new wave of Russia’s surreptitious offensive in Eastern Europe

The Kremlin has reason to celebrate as Russian foreign policy recently registered several significant successes across Europe’s East.

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From grieving uncle to presidential candidate: the unlikely story of Alexandru Cumpănașu

Even by Romanian standards, the story of Alexandru Cumpanasu is an odd one.

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How Georgia’s wine industry came back from oblivion

Six thousand years before Christ turned water into wine, the ancestors of modern-day Georgia were turning grapes into it. It’s thanks to these imaginative Stone Age sapiens that today we enjoy Gamay from Beaujolais, Chianti from Tuscany, Rioja from Navarro and Cabernet Sauvignon everywhere from France to New Zealand.

Read the full story here.