Adam and Alexandra are back from Sarajevo and give a littleinsight into their recent visit there for the Sarajevo Security Conference.

They later run down the latest news stories, including updates on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova’s parliamentary elections, Trump’s change in Ukraine policy and Slovakia’s constitutional changes.

For the main interview, Nina sat down with Eva Svatoňová todiscuss the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic on October 3-4, 2025. Eva, a sociologist specializing in social movements, culture wars, and anti-feminism, offers an overview of the current political landscape and the key issues shaping the debate, and explores why far-right parties are gaining ground. They also consider whether the country might follow the illiberal trends seen elsewhere in the region.

Check out the latest issue of New Eastern Europe now online:https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/09/27/issue-5-2025-on-shaky-ground/

Join us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Nina and Alexandra kick off this episode with a summary ofthe week's news, from the violations of NATO airspace in Estonia and Denmark to US President Donald Trump's possible 180 on Ukraine. They also discuss Russia's revival of the Intervision Song Contest as its latest cultural diplomacyeffort, as well as the extradition of Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc from Greece after several years of evading the law.

Nina then speaks with Serbian political scientist Nikola Burazer of the Center for Contemporary Politics and European Western Balkans. Nikola updates listeners on the ongoing student demonstrations in Serbia, the government's increasingly harsh response, and where he thinks the situation could be headed. While protesters' demands have evolved, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić appears to be digging in his heels.

Support the podcast visit: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

In this episode, Adam and Nina review the week’s key developments, including the Zapad 2025 military exercises between Russia and Belarus, protests in Slovakia, a Russian drone incursion into Poland and Romania, and the latest updates from Romania and Georgia.

Following the news, Nina speaks with Ray Koçi, an advisor to the Mayor of Tirana on inclusive planning and coordinator of the Tirana School Streets Programme. They discuss the city’s architectural transformation, exploring its challenges, controversies, and the efforts to create a better environment for all its citizens.

Ray is currently working on the 25th International Walk21 Conference on Walking and Liveable Communities, taking place in Tirana from 6–10 October 2025. Read more about the conference here: https://walk21.com/conference/tirana-2025/

Read the latest news and analysis online at: www.neweasterneurope.eu

Support the podcast at: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

In this episode, Alexandra and Adam start off with some discussion on the news, including concerns over the upcoming Russia/Belarus Zapad 2025 military exercises, Slovakia’s Robert Fico and his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine, and upcoming elections in Moldova.

Later, Adam and Nina are joined by Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe and expert on the South Caucasus. They discuss the peace deal which was initialed at the White House between Armenia and Azerbaijan and dig deeper as to what it means, who wins, who loses, and what might come next.

Check out the guest’s profile at: https://carnegieendowment.org/people/thomas-de-waal?lang=en

Read Alexandra’s piece on Bosnia and Herzegovina in Brief Eastern Europe: https://briefeasterneurope.eu/p/september-8-2025

Support our work – become a patron: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Talk Eastern Europe is back from its August break! In this episode, Adam, Alexandra and Nina run through some of the bigger stories from the region, including developments in the Balkans, Poland, the EU, and look at the global implications of China’s victory celebrations this week.

After the news, Adam and Nina are joined by Pavel Havlíček, research fellow at the Prague-based Association for International Affairs (AMO) to discuss the recent Trump–Putin meeting in Alaska and what it means for Ukraine’s future. The episode explores the high-stakes diplomacy shaping the war and the prospects for peace, which President Trump has been pursuing since before his inauguration.

In the bonus section to this episode – Pavel gives us a peek into Czech domestic politics, as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in early October.

>>> Click here to listen to the bonus content.

For further reading:

“A recipe for an unfair stalemate, not a just peace” – CoryAlpert, New Eastern Europe https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/08/20/a-recipe-for-an-unfair-stalemate-not-a-just-peace/

“Scenarios for the end of the war” – Andrii Dligach & ValeriiPekar, New Eastern Europe https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/09/01/scenarios-for-the-end-of-the-war/

Additional financing for this podcast is provided by the Polish MFA: Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition “Public Diplomacy 2024 – 2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation The opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the official positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

In this episode, Adam and Alexandra start by discussing the latest news including fears of interference in Moldova’s upcoming elections, the upcoming inauguration Poland’s new president as well as some worrisome security breaches in the Baltics.

For the main interview, Adam sits down with Kyiv-based journalist Aleksander Palikot to discuss the recent political crisis surrounding Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions, NABU and SAPO. Aleksander explains the background of these agencies, the controversial law passed by parliament to strip their independence, and the wave of spontaneous protests which followed. They also discuss the wider implications for President Zelenskyy, public trust, and Ukraine’s path towards EU membership.

Further reading: “How Zelenskyy undermined Ukraine’s path to EU membership and what happens next” https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/07/29/how-zelenskyy-undermined-ukraines-path-to-eu-membership-and-what-happens-next/

Support the podcast, get great benefits, join us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Additional financing for this podcast is provided by the Polish MFA: Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition “Public Diplomacy 2024 – 2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation The opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the official positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

Episode 232: Book talk: The history of queer life in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In this episode, Adam and Nina cover several key developments from the region, including the latest from Ukraine, breaking news from Moldova, far-right marches across Poland, and the EU’s adoption of its 18th package of sanctions against Russia.

Later in the episode, Alexandra and Nina are joined by Matej Vrebac, Programme Coordinator at the Sarajevo Open Centre, who researches queer history in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Matej is one of the authors of the recent publication The History of Queer Life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conversation explores the motivation behind documenting queer history in the region, how queer lives have appeared in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s past, including in folk traditions, and the importance of conducting such research and making it accessible. The book is available here in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian (BCS), with plans to publish an English edition in the future:

https://soc.ba/historija-kvir-zivota-u-bosni-i-hercegovini-prva-publikacija-koja-sveobuhvatno-dokumentuje-prisustvo-zivote-i-otpor-kvir-osoba-u-bih/

Support Talk Eastern Europe. Join our Patreon community! www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Check out the latest of issue of New Eastern Europe – Rebalancing the Baltics Sea Region

In this special edition of Talk Eastern Europe, Alexandra reports in-person from Sofia for a deep dive into disinformation and digital interference in Bulgaria during the last several years of perpetual election campaigning. She speaks with experts Angel Petrov, Gloria Trifonova, and Petko Petkov on Bulgaria’s political landscape, local and Russian backed disinformation, the rise of far-right political actors, and why Russian narratives have resonance in the country.

Commentary by:

• Angel Petrov, World News Reporter at Dnevnik.bg

• Gloria Trifonova, FIMI Analyst at the Center for the Study of Democracy

• Petko Petkov, a Bulgarian software developer and system architect based in Kyiv and public representative of the BG Elves

To watch the full-length interviews and other behind-the-scene clips, you can check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope

Research for this podcast episode was made possible with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington, DC’s Transatlantic Media Fellowship. Find out more about the Fellowship, and the Foundation’s work, here: https://us.boell.org/en/2025/05/22/2025-cohort-transatlantic-media-fellowsCheck out the previous episode in this series:

https://talkeasterneurope.eu/episodes/episode-225-live-from-bucharest-romanian-democracy-is-being-pushed-to-its-limits