Welcome to Notes from New Europe

powered by the Center for the Study of Democracy

Introduction to the Notes from New Europe newsletter

As early subscribers to this newsletter likely already know, I’m writing this from the foot of the Balkans: Sofia, Bulgaria. I moved here for three reasons. 

• I needed to take a break from the US and challenge my understanding of the world, the craft of journalism, and the cynicism that often dominates our discourse and perspective. 

• Having spent the greater part of the last decade working with multiple news organizations at the same time, I wanted to focus on one “client”: the Center for the Study of Democracy. And I was fortunate the amazing Fulbright program decided to fund my work at the Center;

• I was drawn to Eastern Europe generally, and Southeastern Europe in particular, as a region that journalists rarely center in our efforts to understand global change. 

During my short time here, I have had the privilege of seeing global challenges with greater clarity because I have changed the lens through which I look at the world. My colleagues, friends, and neighbors in Sofia have been uncompromising and patient guides for me. They combine deep expertise developed through their work with the lived experience of growing up in a place that has long been on the literal and figurative border between different spheres of influence. 

It is with a bit of deliberate naivete that I use the term New Europe for this newsletter. I recognize that, from an American perspective, this term may invoke Donald Rumsfeld and some provocative neocon framing from the early 2000s. Or seem like a callback to phrasing the BBC World Service and others used to refer to the so-called A8 nations when they joined the EU in 2004. Or, most importantly, brush aside how I have heard it pop up as a derogatory term for nations like Bulgaria and Romania, a sort of short hand reference to rates of corruption and other perceived rule-of-law shortcomings compared to countries like France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. 

Instead of bristling at New Europe, I have heard some Bulgarian colleagues choose to own the term with pride and authority: We have always been a part of Europe, AND we are new members of a post-Cold War Europe that is still finding its collective identity. THIS is what I am trying to convey and honor in this newsletter. 

I am drawn to the idea that the people in this region may have more at stake in Europe and the EU’s survival and influence. Those Bulgarians and Romanians who are fighting for a strong EU (and full Schengen rights) appreciate the full potential of the union in a way that those in other member states often take for granted. Likewise the people in North Macedonia and Moldova and Kosovo who see entry into the EU as the best path forward for their well being. And most important of all are the Ukranians who have given their lives over the last decade for the future of a Europe they are not yet officially a part of. Just as the converts to a religion or faith are often the most devout, it may be that it is the New Europeans who can help us understand why building strong civic society across the region and beyond depends on supporting a forward-thinking Europe as a whole.

In the coming months, I hope to share how my learning and listening in this region helps me reset my understanding of global shifts and opportunities. I have been pestering engaging colleagues here at CSD and across the region in this process, which frequently earns me some head-shaking and kind corrections with a tone that implies my so-called Western assumptions and ignorance can be exasperating for people who have lived the turbulence and rapid changes of the last half century in a place so very different. (To put it another way, I’m trying not to worry so much about falling into the American idiot trope that I avoid asking simple-yet-important questions.)

One example (a tame one - I’ll share more boldly as we go along): There was a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia this week, and it seems to have been a popular show. I had assumed it was not known here in the 70s, you know, #becauseironcurtain, and spoke to a colleague as if it was something new after 1989. She made it clear that, along with Hair, it was definitely known and loved during state socialism, even if illicit. And then has remained very popular ever since. Which then leads her to tell me more stories of cultural interrelation that the 12-year-old me would not have believed. Though it is not easy to get people to pause and help with my education, it is the moments like these that I want to share and explore with you to bring greater nuance to our understanding of New Europe. And while I’d rather do so over a brain latte at one of my favorite coffee shops, this newsletter will have to do.

Please consider joining me on this journey as a reader, subscriber, and sharer. I welcome feedback, corrections, and especially any questions or requests for subjects and themes to explore.  

Grazie, Благодаря, and thank you.

GG in BG