Romania

The second part of Addendum’s in-depth investigation into timber smuggling in Eastern Europe. Here, the system of fraud and corruption that allows illegal logging to happen is revealed.

Eastern Europe hosts vast areas of virgin forest which could play a vital role in the battle against the climate crisis, yet they are being mercilessly torn down by a multi-billion euro Austrian-owned industry and a mafia-like system that stretches all the way from Romania to Ukraine.

Disinformation is not always ideologically motivated. On the contrary, most fake news websites serve primarily to make money. The disinformation economy relies heavily on Facebook and Google Ads, a report on five eastern European countries shows.

Internal political conflicts and an absence of priorities could end up defining Romania’s leadership of the Council of the European Union, writes a political scientist in Bucharest.

The fortunes of Ragusa farmers rely in part on the forced labour of hundreds of migrant women from Romania who are reduced to slavery. The issue has been brought to the European Parliament, where many politicians are urging the EU to intervene.