Transitions

Ukraine is about to try Davor Savicic in absentia – the first Bosnian national to be charged with war crimes allegedly committed while fighting with Russian forces in 2022. In an interview with BIRN, one of his accusers recalls his captivity in a rat-infested pit, blindfolded and bound, fearing for his life. Mykola had barely finished celebrating his birthday when he was taken away the next day by Russian forces almost immediately following their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

While Viktor Orban has spent his years in power deepening Hungary’s ties with Central Asia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan to demonstrate that Budapest’s influence extends beyond the European Union, Peter Magyar is seeking to ground Hungary’s future more firmly within the EU. From Eurasianet. Under Viktor Orban, Hungary’s engagement with the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) served both practical and ideological purposes.

Russia’s latest blockade of Ukrainian seaports is threatening a critical harvest and global food security. From The Conversation. While the world’s attention is fixated on the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Russia has been subjecting Ukraine to a blockade of its own in the Black Sea, imperiling Ukraine’s summer grain harvest.

Ralitsa Vassileva was one of the first journalists from post-communist Europe to thrive in international media. The former CNN International anchorwoman talks to Transitions. When I first met Ralitsa Vassileva, I had no idea who she was. Well, that’s not exactly right. It was on a recent visit to the University of Georgia to meet with members of the school’s Solution Journalism Hub of the South. I had sat down with the other co-directors of the program, Amanda Bright and Kyser Lough.

“In Europe and in Asia, the situation is really bad and it’s deteriorating.” The sturgeon, an ancient and commercially prized fish, is the most endangered species group on planet Earth, and 85% of sturgeon species are at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

For ethnic groups without a state, home can be an abstract concept. From Global Voices. While trying to define nationhood, people often rely on simplistic descriptions and groupings – the lines drawn on a map, demarcations outlined by treaties and agreements, common identities and ideologies within a specific space. But for many groups, the concept of nationhood can fall outside these traditional borders.

The Kyrgyz capital’s Dordoi Bazaar is a vibrant center of trade and entrepreneurship, connecting European and Chinese markets, while creating opportunities of a better future for local people. From The Conversation. When I left Ainura’s container-shop at the Dordoi Bazaar in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I found the market eerily quiet. I had not noticed the passing of time, while she generously shared her life story with me.

Russia’s new South Ossetian playbook and its potential applicability elsewhere. South Ossetia has long been the most deeply penetrated of Russia’s post-Soviet, de facto states. The small breakaway territory, internationally recognized as part of Georgia, could not sustain its security, budget, or external connections without Moscow.

Rooted in the underground movement, the Czech “Woodstock” prepares to celebrate Vaclav Havel’s legacy on the 90th anniversary of his birth. In what has become an annual ritual, the “tribe” flocks to the northern Czech Republic for three days of concerts, debates, and interreligious services at the TrutnOFF Open Air Festival.

Eastern EU states are shielding crucial infrastructure, while Moscow dismisses claims as “scare stories.” WARSAW/VILNIUS, 10 August (Reuters) | Russia’s northern NATO neighbors are tightening security around dams, power plants, and natural gas infrastructure in a sign of mounting concern that Moscow will stage a “false flag” attack on them using Ukrainian drones.