Culture

Cyril Marcilhacy traverses Leipzig, in the midst of a full-blown housing crisis, and its fifty odd “house projects”, where alternative ways of living are tried out. This “New Berlin”, is trying to escape the clutches of gentrification.

The corona pandemic has shown that more authoritarianism is not the answer to the problems in Belarus. On the contrary. Aleksandr Lukashenka’s catastrophic handling of the crisis has created a new civil society in Europe's last dictatorship, writes journalist Iryna Vidanava. Now there is no way back.

The Union of Belarusian writers appeals for international solidarity to stop violence directed against peaceful protesters and to hold new free, fair and transparent elections in Belarus.

In Croatia, an allegedly independent group of experts have pulled the strings in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But this crisis management has in fact been deeply political, writes journalist and novelist Slavenka Drakulić. Dependent on tourism, EU's youngest member state plays a risky game where political power and economy stand against the lives of the most vulnerable. In the end the future of democracy could be at stake.

The Monument to Italians Fallen in Africa at Syracuse (Sicily) was an initiative of Mussolini to celebrate fascist colonial ventures. It is emblematic of Italy’s and Europe’s unresolved relationship with its colonial past, an issue thrown back into the spotlight after the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the United States. According to Somali-Italian writer Igiaba Scego, it is a wound that needs to be healed, starting with its symbols.