Studio Central and Eastern Europe

Antoine Bailleux on the ECJ, Hungary, and the Legal Power of Values

On 21 April 2026, the European Court of Justice will deliver its long-awaited judgement in an historical case where the European Commission, for the first time ever, took Hungary to Europe’s highest court for a violation of “European Values” because of its anti-LGBT laws. Why could this judgement be a game-changer for European law? Why were European values not invoked before in courts? What are the risks when judges start using values? And more broadly: is it a coincidence that Central European Countries such as Poland and Hungary are, once more, accused of disrespecting Europe’s values and principles? And how do these countries defend themselves before the court in Luxembourg? In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe these and other questions are discussed by Antoine Bailleux, who is a professor in European Law at UCLouvain, in a conversation with Wim Weymans, who, until recently, held the Chair in European Values at UCLouvain and who is also a Research Affiliate at LINES (KU Leuven).

Vjosa Musliu on Lived Experience as Knowledge in International Relations

From a distance, objectivity looks almost effortless—one of the presumed privileges of studying war. But what if the scholar has survived the very conflict they seek to analyse?   In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Kosovo-born and Belgium-based scholar Vjosa Musliu joins PhD researcher at KU Leuven Njomëza Mulhaxha Musliu to discuss her book Girlhood at War. Blending personal narrative with political reflection, Musliu probes how lived experience can inform, unsettle, and deepen academic inquiry into conflict and its aftermath.   Can the researcher’s own memories—intellectual, emotional, even bodily—become a legitimate source of knowledge in the study of international relations? And might embracing subjectivity, rather than expunging it, bring greater humanity to the discipline? Girlhood at War offers a vivid account of growing up during the Kosovo war and its aftermath, tracing how a young girl’s initially clear-cut moral map fractures as displacement, class, and the ambiguities of “liberation” take hold. The book evokes the intimate textures of wartime life that rarely enter official histories, including Musliu’s unexpected role as a thirteen‑year‑old interpreter for NATO troops, while also illuminating the broader stakes of writing scholarship from a life shaped by conflict. In this conversation, Vjosa Musliu reflects on how these formative experiences inform her teaching and thinking as a scholar—shaping her work as Professor of International Relations at the VUB, her research on statebuilding and liberal interventions in the Balkans, and her engagement in regional scholarly and human‑rights initiatives.

Elisabed Gedevanishvili on Unravelling Democracy and Opposition Energy in Georgia

Researcher and activist Elisabed Gedevanishvili speaks about the political situation in Georgia. In conversation with political scientist Peter Vermeersch, she reflects on how the continued unravelling of Georgia’s democracy affects the opposition, fuels the energy of the protests, and shapes the ways in which protesters find the courage to stand their ground and demand democracy.

Vera Messing on Hungary’s ‘Community Identity’ Law—and Its Impact on the Roma Minority

Can a law designed to safeguard local identity end up eroding fundamental rights? In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe at KU Leuven, sociologist Vera Messing (Center for Social Sciences, Budapest) speaks with political scientist Peter Vermeersch about Hungary’s Law on Protecting Local Community Identity, in force since July 2025. The legislation gives municipalities the power to restrict new residents and property buyers, granting local councils authority to regulate settlement and property acquisition. While presented as a measure to preserve cultural identity and support small communities, human rights organisations and the EU warn of serious risks to equality and freedom of movement. Messing examines how local authorities apply—or ignore—these powers, and what this means for Hungary’s citizens, particularly the Roma minority. Vera Messing is a research fellow at the Center for Policy Studies and a senior research associate of the Institute of Sociology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Peter Vermeersch is Professor of Political Science at KU Leuven. Their current work forms part of the project RAISE [https://raise-horizon.eu], Recognition and Acknowledgement of Injustice to Strengthen Equality. Join us for a conversation that exposes the tension between local autonomy, national politics, and fundamental rights in Hungary.

Tatiana Klepikova on the Contested Legacy of Sergej Parajanov

This episode explores the enigmatic world of Sergej Parajanov, the cult film director whose visionary work defied conventions and censorship in the second half of the 20th century. Tatiana Klepikova—UR’s Freigeist Fellow at the University of Regensburg, currently writing a book on Parajanov—joins Maryna Shevtsova, senior FWO researcher at KU Leuven, for a conversation about his contested heritage. Why do so many post-Soviet nations claim him as their own? And how did his unconventional art and persona navigate the cultural politics of an era defined by rigid norms? Together, they unravel the intersections of cinema, identity, and cultural memory in a turbulent era.