In this episode of Talk Eastern Europe, Nina, Alexandra and Adam catch up on some of the latest news, including the dire situation in Ukraine, the ongoing peace negotiations and President Zelenskyy’s meeting with Belarusian democratic leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. They also look at Montenegro’s progress towards EU accession and mention the resignation of Bulgaria’s president, setting up the main topic for the episode.

After the news, Adam is joined by Svetoslav Todorov, a Bulgarian journalist and writer, to unpack the situation there. They look at last month’s wave of mass protests, the collapse of yet another government, and try to determine what’s driving public anger beyond the budget dispute. They also touch on the growing role of young people, the country’s turbulent election cycle, the smooth but controversial adoption of the euro, and how pro-Russian narratives continue to shape Bulgaria’s political landscape.

Do you like this podcast? Please support it by becoming apatron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Help Ukrainians survive this winter.

Here are some fundraisers you can support:

Nova Ukraine’s “warmth for Ukraine” campaign: https://novaukraine.org/warmth-for-ukraine-a-humanitarian-appeal/

United24 – Ukraine’s official fundraising portal: https://u24.gov.ua/

Energize Ukraine – by the Ukrainian World Congress: https://energizeukraine.com/

Talk Eastern Europe is back for 2026! Adam and Alex open theepisode with a discussion on the news from the region, including Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and Kosovo. Later, Adam is joined by Mark Temnicky, contributor with Forbes, to assesshow US engagement across Eastern Europe and the region is reshaping regional security. Mark argues that while Ukraine has made real concessions in pursuit of peace, Russia has shown little interest in a sustainable settlement, raising serious doubts about the prospects for a lasting agreement in 2026. The discussion also looks beyond Ukraine to cover also Belarus, Georgia, the South Caucasus, and the wider global order.

If you enjoy this podcast please become a patron! Join ushere: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

In this special final episode of Talk Eastern Europe in 2025, Alexandra and Adam sit down with Jasmin Mujanović on the margins of the Sarajevo Security Conference to discuss current security challenges faced in the region of the Western Balkans. The conversation looks at developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ongoing protests in Serbia, and the broader geopolitical context shaping stability in the Western Balkans, including the roles of the EU, NATO, and key regional actors.

Jasmin Mujanović is a senior non-resident fellow at the Washington, DC-based New Lines Institute's Western Balkans Center and an expert on the region, security and transatlantic relations.

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting us: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Thank you to all of our patrons and listeners for being with us in 2025. We will be back after a short break to bring all new episodes in 2026!

In this near-final episode of 2025, the three co-hosts of Talk Eastern Europe reflect on the key political, social and geopolitical developments that shaped the region over the past year. They discuss waves of protest across several countries, the resilience of civil society, and the evolving security environment and geopolitical shifts since the start of 2025, including the impact of the new US presidency. The conversation also looks ahead to 2026 and considers what listeners should be watching in the year to come.

The opening part concludes with a reflection on the success of Talk Eastern Europe in 2025, as the co-hosts share their favourite episodes and recommend past conversations worth revisiting.

In the second part of the episode, Nina speaks with Owen Hatherley, a British writer, journalist and cultural critic known for his work on architecture, urbanism and politics, particularly modernism and communism. Together, they explore the profound influence of Central European émigrés on British architecture, culture and literature in the mid-20th century, tracing how these figures reshaped Britain’s intellectual and cultural landscape during and after the Second World War.

These themes are explored in depth in Owen’s book The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311898/the-alienation-effect-by-hatherley-owen/9780241378205

Some figures and references mentioned in the interview:

• Otti Berger – Croatian designer
• Eugene (Evžen) Rosenberg
• Josef Herman – Polish-British painter
• Jankel Adler – Polish painter
• Jan Tschichold – German calligrapher and typographer
• Hans Schmoller – German and British graphic designer
• Romek Marber – Polish-born graphic designer behind Penguin’s ‘Marber Grid’
• Walter Neurath and Eva Neurath – founders of Thames & Hudson
• Berthold Lubetkin – architect associated with Soviet Bauhaus and Vkhutemas
• Ernő Goldfinger – Hungarian architect, designer of London’s Balfron Tower and Trellick Tower
• Karel Čapek – Czech author and his book Letters from England
• Bertolt Brecht – German theatre practitioner, and the author of the Alienation theory (Verfremdungseffekt)
• Otto Neurath – Austrian polymath
• Dua Lipa – British-Albanian pop singer, born to Kosovar Albanian parents

For Talk Eastern Europe Patrons, Owen Hatherley stayed on for an extended discussion on Polish milk bars and their cultural significance which can be heard here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/249-bonus-polish-146141039

Help us reach our goal of 75 podcast patrons! Join us at www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope.

Adam and Alexandra open this episode with the latest news from the region. They look at the importance of the mass protests in Bulgaria and later discuss Czechia’s new/old prime minister and balloons over Lithuania. They also briefly discuss the latest developments surrounding the peace process aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

For the main interview, Adam is joined by Georgian activist Mariam Japaridze to discuss a turbulent year of mass protests and growing authoritarianism after the Georgian Dream government halted the country’s EU integration in 2024. She describes the dramatic escalation of repression, from rigged elections to the use of violence and even chemical agents against demonstrators as uncovered recently by the BBC. Despite the challenges, she shares why activists remain determined and what international support Georgia urgently needs.

Read more on the Bulgarian protests in this week’s Brief Eastern Europe: https://briefeasterneurope.eu/p/december-8-2025

Read "One year of Georgia’s unbreakable resistance, as told by its prisoners of conscience" https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/12/05/one-year-of-georgias-unbreakable-resistance-as-told-by-its-prisoners-of-conscience/To learn more about the political prisoners in Georgia you can visit a site set up by the IliaUni Student Movement: https://politpatimrebi.ge/?lang=en

In this episode, Adam and Nina are together in Brussels recording the latest updates on the news from the region. The biggest discussion is around the diplomatic flurry over the last week and the remodelled 28-point peace plan between the US, Russia and Ukraine. Adam reflects on the current situation and discusses what might be next. They also discuss Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow

Later, Nina sits down in Brussels with Peter Vermeersch, a professor of Politics and Eastern European Studies at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium), and a writer of essays, reportage, and narrative non-fiction. They discuss his latest book Pollslag (Pulse) and, more broadly, the role of music as a form of resistance against authoritarianism beyond Belarus.

During the interview, Peter mentions several artists featured in this Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3YmjGTewBHutfgJWUOASiD?si=jcJ-lu-OSj6dr8csRAf8PA

Pollslag was initially written for a Belgian audience, and Peter is now planning to translate it into English. In the meantime, you can read his non-fiction story about his family to get a sense of his narrative style: https://petervermeersch.craft.me/hbzUOUDh9tgMxI

Peter is also part of the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe at the University of Leuven, which aims to bring insights from the region to Belgian audiences: https://fcee.be

The Forum also produces its own podcast, Studio Central Eastern Europe, offering brief and concise insights into new research on the region for English-speaking audiences: https://soc.kuleuven.be/lines/fcee/fcee-studio/studio-cee

Peter also works as a researcher–photographer. His photographs from Minsk (2016) can be found here: https://vsco.co/petervermeersch/journal/belarus

And read Adam’s op-ed on the Ukraine peace talks via Brief Eastern Europe: https://briefeasterneurope.eu/p/december-1-2025

For our Patrons, Peter stayed on to speak about visual art and Belarusian pro-democracy activism outside of Belarus. The bonus content can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-247-145134701

Alexandra and Nina open the episode with a rundown of the latest news, including ongoing American diplomacy vis a vis Russia and Ukraine, the closure of the Hungarian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a new ruling by the European Court of Justice related to same-sex marriage, the election results in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania’s positive progress toward EU membership.

Alexandra is then joined by Catherine Baker of the University of Hull for the main interview. Catherine is a specialist in post-Cold War history, international relations, and cultural studies researching national identity and popular music during and after the Yugoslav Wars. Together they discuss some of late Yugoslavia’s most famous artists, how their work evolved alongside the borders of the successor states, and how they have been remembered over time and today. Some of the artists and songs mentioned in the episode include:

• Neda Ukraden - Zora je (1985)
• Doris Dragović Željo moja (1986)
• Severina - Dalmatinka (1993)
• Ceca - Pustite me da ga vidim (1990)
• Alka Vuica - Laži me (1994)
• Lepa Brena - Luda za tobom (1996)
• Maja Blagdan - Sveta ljubav (1996)
• Zabranjeno pušenje - Jugo 45 (1999)
• Bijelo Dugme - 1st reunion tour (2005)
• Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim (2024)

Catherine’s latest work focuses on the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be the subject of forthcoming bonus content exclusive to Talk Eastern Europe patrons. Listen online here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/246-bonus-144726903

This episode opens up with all three co-hosts, Adam, Nina and Alexandra, taking a look at a few headlines coming out of the region. They discuss the sabotage operation in Poland, the ongoing war in Ukraine in midst of an emerging corruption scandal, and the fall out of the EU’s new ban on multi-entry visas for Russian citizens.

For the main interview, Alexandra speaks with regional expert Nurbek Bekmurzaev about Kyrgyzstan’s unprecedented snap parliamentary elections taking place on November 30th. Nurbeck explains how the legacy of the 2020 unrest, whichbrought President Sadyr Japarov to power, continues to shape Kyrgyzstan’s political transformation. The conversation explores the new electoral rules, the changing nature of political competition, candidate filtering, and the likelihood of any protests or instability around the vote.

In our bonus section for Patrons only, Alexandra and Nurbek take a look at the recent C5+1 summit in Washington, exploring how the US under Donald Trump is reshaping its approach to Central Asia.

Listen to the bonus episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-245-144000977

Help us reach 75 Patrons by the end of 2025! Sign up for great benefits here: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Check out the report by the Balkan Free Media Initiative - Tackling TikTokracy: A blueprint for fighting algorithmic manipulation in Europe. https://www.balkanfreemedia.org/tackling-tiktokcracy-in-the-balkans

Read this week’s Brief Eastern Europe: https://www.briefeasterneurope.eu