Daniel Gleichgewicht

1 week ago | neweasterneurope.eu | Daniel Gleichgewicht

Many people associated the arrival of President Donald Trump in the White House with expectations of a quick end to the Russian-Ukrainian war. This brought Ukrainians hope for the restoration of peace and a normal life, and European and American politicians and businessmen hope for the restoration of the status quo destroyed by Russian aggression. However, Trump’s first 100 days have not only failed to meet these expectations but have also brought many surprises for which the world was unprepared.

2 weeks ago | neweasterneurope.eu | Daniel Gleichgewicht

Arriving from Odesa, Tetiana Balatska could not resist the charm of Vylkove, one of the “gates” to the Danube delta and a town of 5,000 inhabitants that looks like the end of the world. Opposite, on the other side of the river, Romania and its trees emerge, inaccessible. Further east, the marshes rise towards the Black Sea. Only a renovated road, now divided up by military checkpoints, allows access in two hours from the river port of Izmail.

2 weeks ago | neweasterneurope.eu | Daniel Gleichgewicht

As a boy of six or seven years old in the 1970s, I loved to stroll along my granny’s clay-paved street in the bucolic central Ukrainian village of Helmiaziv. In the evenings, I could hear voices singing local “village songs”, where a matriarch or younger woman would finish a verse with a distinctive long sound after the other singers fell silent. This was the practice of the tiahty lenchyka. Back then, I never imagined that this beautiful tradition might one day disappear.

2 weeks ago | neweasterneurope.eu | Daniel Gleichgewicht

On May 9, 2025, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev proposed the initiation of a referendum on the date of Bulgaria’s joining the Eurozone. His initiative caused a political storm and public hysteria, but, most of all, shone a light on the extent of capture of Bulgarian institutions, including parliament. Polls carried out earlier this year by Myara showed that 51.7 per cent of Bulgarians oppose Bulgaria’s Eurozone entry in principle while 39 per cent support it in principle.

2 weeks ago | neweasterneurope.eu | Daniel Gleichgewicht

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, western nations imposed sweeping sanctions with the primary aim of hurting the Russian economy. These included bank restrictions, export bans, technological embargoes, and a ceiling on Russian oil prices. However, more than three years later, Russia’s economy is not only intact, but growing at a faster rate than many western economies. This surprising resistance raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of sanctions as a tool of economic warfare.