Aug 16 Buonasera Mag
Day 174: readings, articles, posts
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page.
I’ll be traveling all day and will be back with EuroFile’s normal format tomorrow. It was a rich news weekend and I’ll be including some up-dated readings and posts in the issues to come.
For those who may be interested in a bit of folklore, there’s an event taking place today in my town, the Palio. It used to be broadcast on the Italian state broadcaster RAI. You can find it on La7 online streaming starting at 7pm CET.
I find it incredible that not one politician in my town or civic organization protested the move from the state broadcaster, with a potential audience in Italy of 40 million people, (abroad I simply don’t know) to a puny private TV network run by Urbano Cairo.
Readings and posts…
Inna Sovsun on France 24 English
You’ll remember Inna from our Kremlin File podcast back in March.
CNN video report: 'Bring back our sons': Ukrainians desperate for answers after attack on war prisoner camp
At least 50 prisoners of war were killed in an attack on a Olenivka, Ukraine, prison. Russia and Ukraine both say the other is to the blame for the attack, while people like Svietlana seek answers about what happened to their loved ones. CNN's David McKenzie reports on the continuing investigation into the attack.
Potatoes not on the menu
‘I’m 21 and I really want to live’ —Bellingcat & The Insider obtain complaints submitted to Russia’s military by betrayed soldiers, their loved ones, and civilians in Ukraine’s warzone
Investigative journalists at The Insider and Bellingcat obtained access to an archive of complaints submitted to Russia’s military prosecutor’s office by the relatives of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, by the soldiers themselves, and by civilians whose hometowns have become warzones. The journalists say they’ve independently verified the letter archive’s authenticity, and The Insider has published several dozen examples on its website in the original Russian. The complaints accuse Russia’s Defense Ministry of deceiving and coercing conscripted soldiers into combat, failing to provide troops with needed food and medical care, and withholding information from family members about men who have been captured or killed. Meduza translated some of these excerpts into English (redacting data that could be used to identify individuals).
Andras Toth-Czifra, Orbán Mixes it Up
The Hungarian populist leader is challenging the fundamentals of the European order in a time of war.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to neighboring Romania last month to outline his big picture vision. His words caused an uproar, sparking allegations of racism within Hungary and far beyond. But while the racial elements of the speech were unquestionably poorly judged and phrased, some of the more serious elements were barely addressed.
Lukashenko: repression in Belarus
Global Axess 2022: Liberty—Part 1 of 10 - Ukraine's Struggle for Freedom
Dr Polyakova is a renowned expert on transatlantic relations, European security, Russian foreign policy and populism in democracies. She directs the Center for European Policy Analysis and is an adjunct professor of European Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Here she presents her arguments against a new peace settlement with Russia.
Eleonora Mongelli, VP Italian Federation of Human Rights
Immensely grateful for the meetings I had in #Vilnius with truly amazing advocates for freedom & democracy. Today, on the 2nd anniversary of #Belarus fraudulent presidential elections, I met with journalists in exile from BAJ The Belarusian Association of Journalists who are struggling to cover the news in their homeland and help their colleagues behind bars. BAJ, despite the pressure from the authorities, is carrying on its activities to protect media freedom and freedom of expression in #Belarus and worldwide.
The international community should not turn a blind eye to this repression and flagrant violations of human rights. We continue to stand by the people of Belarus and look forward to continuing our joint work!
Currently, 30 media workers are behind bars in Belarus. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of any democratic society. Over the past 2 years, the Belarusian media have faced unprecedented pressure by the regime: recognition of many independent media outlets as "extremist formations", their publications as "extremist materials," closures of independent media, mass arbitrary detentions of media workers, physical and psychological violence.
Full statement: https://baj.by/en/content/baj-freedom-expression-cornerstone-any-democratic-society-9-august-anniversary-statement