Visar Geci, born in Prishtina, is a student of architecture in Graz (since 1997 he has also been an Austrian citizen), a barkeeper with his own television show, and the owner of a fitness studio – furthermore, Geci describes himself as a Kosovar patriot who would do anything for the development of Kosovo. Kai Vöckler describes for “Report” his encounter with the convinced European, who has discovered an (unusual) way of living between Graz and Prishtina.
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Around 70 per cent of the project developments by the real estate financial service provider Immorent are located in Eastern Europe. In an interview with Report, Immorent’s managing director Gerald Antonitsch tells about the current trends in the Eastern European property market and about methods of finding the appropriate designers, whether regional or international.
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The renowned journalist Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi, 75, became known to a wider public during the Cold War era through her sensitive reporting from Poland and Czechoslovakia for ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Service). Marion Krasek, Vienna correspondent for "Spiegel", has reported on the Balkans, where she has family roots, for over ten years. Two different generations of journalists speak about the working conditions for Eastern European reporters today and in the past.
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Barbara Maier, cultural and scientific mediator, and publisher and author Lojze Wieser undertook a culinary voyage of discovery in the Balkans. The pair invited Antje Mayer to a meal in their house in Klagenfurt where they served Šopska-Salat, goulash and cooled, Rakia, told about dishes they had tasted and philosophised about the social implications Tragweite of eating drinking and preparing meals.
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Susan Milford and Barbara Schmied-Länger, two experts on Eastern Europe, came up with the unusual idea of looking at the theme of expansion from a different viewpoint. The outcome is the cookery book "Europas unbekannte Küche". A culinary journey through (still) unfamiliar terrain.
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Former Yugoslavia is an example of a multinational and multi-cultural society, not least of all due to its religious diversity. Political scientist Vedran Dzihic describes for “Report” the effect of this on the newly founded states and their political and religious representatives. On the symbiosis between politics and religions. A long history of separation and reunion, war and tolerance.
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On the role of religion in the former communist countries
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Not only in Poland, but also in Russia, members of the clergy are becoming increasingly involved in politics. Yet this is not a local peculiarity – but rather a dangerous trend of the times.
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Religion and religiosity, Communism and Church. Theologian Ernst Christoph Suttner on the difficult dialogue between the Orthodox and Latin churches in Eastern and Western Europe and the historical background.
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Religious groups in eastern central and eastern Europe
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Russia observes Europe with mixed feelings. As only few Russians have a passport, the impression of Europe goes little further than a diffuse image. In an interview the political journalist Fyodor Lukyanov describes Europe as an oasis in the international confusion, “a Europe that seals its external borders and leaves non-EU states to wander around outside seeking membership.” Lukjanov very much doubts whether the map will look the same in 50 years time.
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Under Tito, how did the intellectual class orient itself in world politics? Does there exist among writers a positive understanding of non-aligned Yugoslavia?
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A short history of the vision of “America”
Alexander Emanuely rolls out the history of the view of America once again, and follows the traces of former (European) visionaries.
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Our guest author Maya McKechneay is an enthusiastic cineaste and during the warm months of the year likes to travel to various film festivals in Central and Eastern Europe. The best tips from a real insider.
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A false novel or other confrontations on hot days
Our author Sebastian Fasthuber has had a listen around for "Report" and has compiled a highly personal and subjective selection of music CDs, music festivals, concerts, and books, for summer 2007. All his tips have something to do with Central and Eastern Europe. The author (who lives in Vienna) says that for an encounter with the "musical East in a summer-time mood" it isn't necessary to travel far.
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The summer recess in the theatres and concert halls of this world is a relict from days gone by. It seems to have been forgotten that the warm months of the year once served to undertake a kind of "cultural retreat". Our author and theatre expert Karin Cerny finds this something of a pity. But she has to concede that there have always been good reasons during the summer to attend a number of theatre, dance and performance festivals, above all those with central and Eastern European productions. And of course, in autumn, the start of the season, things really start to hum.
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The rumour of the "silly-season" that is supposed to take over during the summer months is a persistent one. Our author Nina Schedlmayer finds that as far as far the visual arts are concerned it can be disproved. In addition to the mega-events of this year – various biennales as well as the "Documenta 12" in Kassel – she has also found a considerable number of less gigantic but none the less exciting projects.
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In many East bloc countries as well as in Yugoslavia from the 1960s onwards there was liberalised legislation as regards marriage, the use of married names, voting and abortion that was seen as the expression of a classless society. Women had a higher level of education and could take up traditionally male professions, childcare centres were widely available, either free of charge or for a very low fee. From the mid 1970s onwards Slovene fathers had the opportunity to take paternity leave. In questions of equal rights between women and men the East was – apparently – ahead. We spoke to Marija Wakounig, Professor at the Institute for East European History in Vienna, historian and editor of the collection of essays: “Die Gläserne Decke. Frauen in Ost-, Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa im 20. Jahrhundert” (The Glass Ceiling. Women in Eastern, East-central and Southeastern Europe in the 20th Century).
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Bert Rebhandl in conversation with sociologist Hartmut Kälble
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With the accession of Romania and Bulgaria a network has been established throughout the EU with its headquarters in Brussels.
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Recent developments in several new member states of the EU, namely the rise of both right wing and left wing populism, have drawn new attention to East-Central Europe. How to explain the current tide of populist movements in the region? And what implications can be drawn for the future of the European Union? Political scientist and historian Jacques Rupnik gives an analysis of the situation.
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Migration researcher Michael Jandl investigates a sensitive topic: migration and illegal employment. In this interview with "Report" he explains why the option to restrict for a certain transitional period the free movement of labour as regards workers from the new EU countries (an option that was availed of by Austria) was only partly successful, and he indicates the form a sensible migration policy might take in the future.
Barbara Tóth in conversation with Michael Jandl
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Capsizing boatloads of refugees or weakened Africans clambering out of rudimentary vessels onto the beaches of Tenerife or Lampedusa have become part of everyday presentations on our media this summer. Hereby the fact that most of the illegal immigrants to the EU enter across the eastern border is often overlooked. A report on a permanent state of emergency.
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Jeremy Rifkin, the US economist, political consultant and author of the book “The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream” talks about the problems, the hopes and the opportunity of taking Europe towards a future political model. Manuela Hötzl talked with this fan of Europe.
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The historian and journalist Karl Schlögel is a traveller, observer and storyteller who perceives processes of change and reinterprets them unusually in a manner that is more essayistic than academic.
The Berlin journalist Bert Rebhandl talked with Karl Schlögel in the following interview.
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After the rejection of the draft European constitution in France and the Netherlands, a kind of helplessness and perplexity reign in Europe. Erhard Busek, EU coordinator for southeast Europe and President of the European Forum Alpbach, sees in this crisis the long needed inducement to ask the question: "whether Europe wants itself". Economics journalist Michael Prüller talked to the former head of the ÖVP and former economics minister.
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The (borderline) publisher Lojze Wieser has championed small-scale and unknown literature from Austria's eastern neighbours for two decades and also founded the "Enzyklopädie des europäischen Ostens" (Encyclopedia of the European East). For Wieser communication in one's own native language is a human right that should be granted to everyone. In conversation with Antje Mayer.
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Boris Buden, the author of the book "Der Schacht von Babel – Ist Kultur übersetzbar" (The Pit of Babel – is Culture Translatable?) , which appeared in autumn 2004, explains why he finds the belief in a new cultural identity naive and why society should not confuse politics with culture. Buden speaks of Europe as a translation community. An interview with Manuela Hötzl.
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Slovene translator Urška P. Černe believes that, so far, "the preservation of national and regional diversity" has remained just a slogan. A commentary.
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Does anyone in this room still believe in solidarity between the “two Europes”? Rival interpretations of solidarity in "East" and "West".
An Essay by János Mátyás Kovács.
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There are some who speak about the eastern expansion of the European Union and there are others who are actively engaged in it. The people at Project East! go a step further: getting people to dance together, as a form of applied cultural mediation.
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The contemporary art platform tranzit has been dedicated to forging art and culture networks between East and West since 2002. But who are the persons at the bottom of tranzit? Here we present a portrait of the curator Vít Havránek.
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Europeanization and the search for identity – an interview with the ethnologist Bernhard Tschofen
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