Latvia
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25 November 2011PresseuropVeidas
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10 November 201115Respekt Prague
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Railways
Greater European network on track
20 October 2011PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Economic crisis
Youthful members of the full-time precariat
15 September 20114Polityka Warsaw -
1991-2011
A Baltic triumph
19 August 2011IQ The Economist Vilnius -
9 August 20111PresseuropAdevărul
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2 August 20111PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna
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Latvia
Corruption and dissolution
30 May 2011PresseuropDiena -
European Union
Patient doing better than expected
2 May 20113Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Labour market
Work in Germany? Yes, maybe
29 April 20111Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Frankfurt -
Central Europe
The wilted charms of the euro
4 April 2011Presseurop -
Two towns in Europe
Valka-Valga, two sides to the story
16 February 2011Postimees Tallinn -
Baltic states
Where minorites must hold their tongue
6 January 20114De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Baltic states
Following Estonia’s lead
13 December 2010Atgimimas Vilnius -
Portugal
Half a million working poor
2 December 2010PresseuropJornal de Notícias -
Austerity
Pity the poor civil servant
27 October 2010Il Foglio Milan -
Stability pact
That figures
18 August 2010PresseuropPúblico -
12 August 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung
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European of the Week
Ilmars Poikans, Latvian cyber-avenger
21 May 2010Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Baltic states and the crisis (2)
Latvia, from boom to bust
19 April 20101The Independent London -
Baltic states and the crisis (1)
Running for the euro
14 April 2010Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
Journalism
The incredible shrinking E.U. press corps
2 April 20104The New York Times New York -
University
Schools feel cost of crisis
30 March 2010Adevărul Bucharest -
Crisis
Farewell to fixed incomes
12 March 20102Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Single currency
Euro, go east!
18 February 20101Handelsblatt Düsseldorf -
Baltic Sea
The big cleanup begins
11 February 2010PresseuropHelsingin Sanomat -
Editorial
Heroine seeks happy ending
22 January 20102Presseurop -
Central and Eastern Europe
World Bank's forsees debt gloom
4 December 2009PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
EU-Russia
Sweden pushed onto Baltic chessboard
18 November 2009PresseuropSvenska Dagbladet -
12 November 2009Polska The Times Warsaw
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6 November 2009PresseuropDagens Nyheter
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Financial crisis
Save Iceland from the slippery slope
31 August 2009PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
21 August 2009Revista 22 Bucharest
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Turkey
Go East
19 August 2009The Guardian London -
17 August 2009Financial Times London
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Regional cooperation
Baltic Blues
17 August 2009Polityka Warsaw -
Financial Crisis
Surprising change for developing countries
13 August 2009PresseuropCapital -
Central and Eastern Europe
Lean years are back
12 August 2009Gandul Bucharest -
Czech Republic
Roma reality show ends in Prague
4 August 2009PresseuropMladá Fronta DNES -
Marriage
Mr and Mr Smith
17 July 2009Cafebabel.com Paris -
ex-soviet bloc
Dear Barack, just a reminder...
16 July 20091Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Tower of Babel
Send in the flies
10 July 2009Cafebabel.com Paris -
Economic Crisis
Money lenders have got souls – other people's
10 July 2009PresseuropNRC Handelsblad -
Crisis
Latvia on the brink
30 June 2009Die Zeit Hamburg -
Tower of Babel
Of women and cars
26 June 20092Cafebabel.com Paris
As the eurozone crisis deepens, the countries outside of it are trying to come up with ways not to lose control of their destinies inside the EU. 
The crisis has accelerated the emergence of a new social class in Europe. Dubbed "the precariat" by sociologists, it is made up of young people with no prospect of a decent job or a reasonable standard of living. 
In August 1991, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia declared their independence from a collapsing USSR. Despite a few hiccups along the way, twenty years on they have definitively turned the page on Communism and come back to their roots in Europe. 
Amid a virtual consensus that the current crisis has cast doubts over the future of the European Union, Polish columnist Jacek Pawlicki argues that the EU’s ability to adapt along with the contribution made by its more recent members will ensure its continued survival. 
On 1 May, the doors will open wide for Poles, Czechs and other eastern Europeans now free to work in Germany. But no one expects a stampede. Quite the opposite: German companies will have to woo the new guest workers ardently and assiduously. 
Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has dampened enthusiasm for the single currency in most of the countries of Central Europe. Today, only the Baltic States are still eager to join the Eurozone, writes "Rzeczpospolita".
A walk from Valka to Valga not only takes you from Lativa to Estonia, but you also have the impression of traveling from one era to another. Postimees reports on a quarrel between the old guard and the new in one of Europe’s far-flung border towns. 
The linguistic rights of the sizeable Russian and Polish minorities in the three former Soviet republics, which joined the EU in 2004, are hardly recognised. A Dutch journalist deplores governmental intransigence on the issue of languages. 
On 1st January, Estonia will become the first Baltic state to join the euro zone — a development which an Estonian political scientist believes will offer a strong motivation to neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania to follow in its footsteps and also encourage more cooperation between the three countries.
They used to have it made — nice easy work, good pensions and job security — but the swingeing cuts that have come with the crisis threaten to end forever the cushy life of Europe's fast-disappearing civil servants. 
For months he was Latvia’s cyber Robin Hood. After hacking into secret tax files, Ilmars Poikans, alias Neo, showed his compatriots how the country’s elite lined their pockets during the crisis. 
With the highest unemployment rate in the EU, the capitalist boom years for Latvia have gone, and many of its citizens are hankering for the grey certitudes of life under communism, reports The Independent. 
The worst is over for the Baltic States. For the first time since the beginning of the financial crisis, Moody's has upped its ratings outlooks for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: a sign that the three republics will soon be able to join the eurozone.
Even as the EU gets more and more talked about, the Brussels press corps is dwindling. Nowhere is this phenomenon more marked than amongst journalists from the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe. 
The education sector in Europe has been hard hit by cuts in budgets, personnel and investment. Some universities, e.g. in the UK, might even have to be closed down. And some leading institutions could soon lose their top international rankings.
Battered by the economic crisis and drowning in deficits, several EU states have opted to cut public sector pay rather than devalue their currency. The choice is unpopular but not unprecedented, reports Il Sole 24 Ore. 
With its monetary union weakened by the crisis, the EU shouldn’t be afraid of enlarging the eurozone. Handelsblatt recommends rapidly integrating the more dynamic economies to the east, which have been scorned for too long as the weakest links in the system. 
Current or former heads of government, European commissioners, national energy company chiefs — in Brussels, the Russian energy giant has fielded a formidable team of lobbyists to defend its interests and projects, which are not always compatible with European initiatives. 
The 23rd August is "European Day of Rememberance for the Victims of Nazism and Stalinism", to condemn totalitarianism. A noble cause perhaps, but one which has provoked controversy in Russia, where Stalin is still a national hero. They point out that Russia in fact saved many lives threatened by Nazism. Yet the Russians remain cagey about their Soviet Union archives, a stumbling block for ex-Soviet states to really understand their totalitarian pasts. 
The EU rose out of the ashes of war. Perhaps, with a little patience and pragmatism, a Middle Eastern Union is not such a distant fantasy. And Turkey, as East-West linchpin, is well-placed to be that unifying force. 
Can Iceland and Latvia pay the foreign debts run up by a fairly small number of their population? The European Union and International Monetary Fund have told them to pay the debts with public money by raising taxes, slashing public spending and obliging citizens to deplete their savings. But a public backlash in these countries may force a compromise with their creditor nations, writes American economist Michael Hudson in the Financial Times. 
Several years ago, the Baltic became the EU’s internal sea. But what kind of a sea is it? A shallow, closed, poor, one that divides rather than connects. On economic as well as environmental issues, the future of the Baltic states is bound in cooperation with neighbouring countries and with the European Union. 
The financial crisis in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, which until recently were posting record growth rates, has forced governments to slash budgets, starting with public service salaries — and cabinet ministers are leading the way. 
Same sex couples continue to benefit from more extensive civil rights almost everywhere Europe. But de jure gay marriages are only authorized in five countries. Cafebabel.com sets out to map "gay-friendly" Europe. 
Leading politicians from Central and Eastern Europe have sent an open letter to the US president urging him to pursue "a firm and principled policy towards Russia". At stake is America's credibility in a region it wholeheartedly embraced in the 90's, but which now, according to the signatories, it takes for granted. 
“Faire mouche” in French means to hit the bull’s eye, hit the nail right on the head; “die Fliege machen” or “eine Fliege machen” in German means to clear off, get lost: though both translate literally as “do (the) fly”. But sparing the life of this pesky insect is regarded as an act of kindness in Spain, Sweden, Latvia and France. The following is a selection of some choice European expressions that hit the nail – and not the fly – on the head. 
For a long time the country with the highest growth in the EU, Latvia finds itself staring into a financial abyss. Seeking to economise its way out of the crisis by slashing public spending, it may even have to devalue its currency. 
Women in the EU enjoy cheaper car insurance than men. Apparently because they take less risks. So what are we supposed to make of clichés about how women drive? Café Babel trawls expressions ranging from the Urals all the way to Spain.