The European Correspondent

Arable land, which is land dedicated to growing crops, has decreased in many European countries. This is driven by several factors, including reduced farm viability, unfavourable land suitability, and demographic changes in rural regions. Economic pressures, such as lower profitability in farming and competition with other land uses, have now made agriculture less sustainable in many areas, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe. Climate change further complicates farming, reducing yields and shifting growing conditions. Spain and Poland are expected to experience the greatest absolute losses of arable land, with over 1 million hectares projected to be abandoned in Spain alone. Created by Sebastian Graeff. https://buff.ly/4h5RF9Y #Europe #EuropeVisualised #EuropeanCorrespondent

With ongoing and growing tensions still lingering between Serbia and Kosovo, alongside cross-community tensions always seemingly lurking under the surface across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the stress of the conflict in Ukraine, the increasing military capabilities of the region's two largest militaries, and former adversaries represent one of many growing causes for concern. 🗞️ Cameron MacBride, Konstantin Hadži-Vuković in today's newsletter. https://buff.ly/4eCHhVp #Military #Croatia #Serbia

🇧🇦 Between the nights of 3-4 October, heavy rains flooded several towns in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing landslides that resulted in deaths and widespread devastation. The amount of rainfall in Donja Jablanica, Fojnica, and smaller towns in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton was twice the average for October and came after months of severe drought. While the climate issue is undoubtedly a factor, another alarming detail emerged in the following hours. In Donja Jablanica, a quarry situated just above the houses likely worsened the impact of the water, causing landslides. But there’s more: no one in the cantonal government knew the quarry was working. Marija Buhač, head of the cantonal government, stated "This government has not issued any concession for that quarry, nor do we have any record of concession fees for it." Currently, the cantonal prosecutor has launched a criminal investigation, and other details are emerging: the company behind the quarry, doo Jablanica, owned by Dženan Honđo, never obtained the license to operate. Media outlets are also linking Honđo to well-known criminals in Sarajevo. 🗞️ Alessandro Cinciripini in today's newsletter. https://buff.ly/3ZYK1rx #Jablanica #Flood #EuropeanCorrespondent

🇽🇰 Kosovo’s bilateral relations and foreign policy is very unique – to say the least. For Kosovo, it’s a matter of survival, as the security of small states depends on alliances and soft power through such an active strategy. One week you’ll see prime minister Kurti meeting with officials from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the next week the ministry of foreign affairs is signing a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Honduras. Kosovo's primary task above all is its foreign policy – securing recognition, which in turn shapes its focus on establishing alliances and key partners in Latin America, such as Colombia. 🗞️ Jakob Weizman in today's newsletter. https://buff.ly/3Y0V2WJ #Kosovo #LatinAmerica #EuropeanCorrespondent

📺 It would be too easy to say that such media alone are responsible for the violence in Serbia, but they are certainly part of the making of a society that has become increasingly accustomed to brutal behaviour. Reality TV shows serve also as a tool for distraction. It’s bread and circuses for the public, helping to divert attention from more pressing issues. This can also be seen in the fact that reality shows have been around in Serbia since the 2000s, but the violence in the programmes has increased since the SNS government started using these media for their own purposes, as political scientist Nebojša Vladisavljević said in an interview. Mitrović’s close ties with the regime have made him increasingly self-assured. When accused of being a profiteer, he once tweeted: "Of course, I am a profiteer who builds profit on your stupidity. If you weren’t as stupid as a brick, I would never be recording such record profits!" 🗞️ Konstantin Hadži-Vuković in today's newsletter. https://buff.ly/3zVcHHr #Zadruga #Serbia #EuropeanCorrespondent

Gay men will be allowed to donate blood in Iceland from July 2025. Iceland, which is otherwise known for being progressive on LGBTQ+ rights, is one of the last European countries to implement these changes. The regulation change means that Icelandic health authorities will start NAT blood screenings of all donors to test whether the donor has hepatitis B or C, or HIV. The lack of funding for such screenings is one reason why it has taken this long to implement the regulation, which was originally proposed in 2018. For decades, gay men have been designated as a risk group, more likely to be infected with HIV, and therefore banned from donating blood. With advances in testing, along with redefining the terms of who can donate blood, steps have been taken to dismantle outdated practices. A commentary by Axel Helgi Ívarsson. Read here: https://buff.ly/3YlP440

The Nihon Hidankyō, founded in 1956 by atomic bomb survivors, advocates for better support for victims and the abolition of nuclear weapons. Their efforts include providing witness testimonies and lobbying internationally for disarmament. In 2024, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their dedication to achieving a world without nuclear weapons. Their powerful testimonies highlight why nuclear weapons should never be used again. A Long Story by Daniela De Lorenzo. Read here: https://buff.ly/3Y3w35b

During the formation of the next EU Commission, the Commission president Ursula von der Leyen made the gender balance in the new commission a political question – and with 11 women to 16 men, she failed to secure it. But what is the state of gender equality in the Union’s 27 member states? About a third of all national ministers are women, but the gender balance in the national governments varies from 58% women in Finland to an all-male Hungarian government. Only 10 European governments are gender-balanced, meaning that the representation of either women or men doesn't fall below 40%. The countries are Finland, Belgium, France, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania. Created by Laura Bejder Jensen.

When Finland celebrated 100 years of independence in 2017, China commemorated the occasion by loaning Finland two pandas for a period of 15 years. Due to the extraordinarily high cost of their upkeep, Ähtäri Zoo, where the two pandas have been living, has been forced to evict the pandas seven years earlier than planned. A zoo spokesperson said they spent €8 million on the enclosure as well as €1.5 million a year to keep the pandas alive, which he explained is ''much more than all the other species combined.'' Part of this high cost can be explained by the pandas’ special diet: feeding them required shipping bamboo from the Netherlands, and the pandas eat up to 38 kg of it daily. The Chinese government agreed the return should have no bearing (pun intended) on the relationship between the countries. However, it will most definitely affect the pandas during their return to China in November, given that the flight from Helsinki back to their home country is a long one and will undoubtedly be stressful and disorienting for the animals. A Top Story by Niina Leppilahti. Read here: https://buff.ly/4dCOnI8

In 2023, the UK hosted the first ever Global AI Safety Summit. The aim is to bring together nations and make commitments to work together and accelerate the advancement of AI (and the safety thereof). The next edition will be held in November of this year and is organised by the US. This is unsurprising as the US and the UK are AI pioneers, ranking number 1 and number 4, respectively, in the Tortoise Global AI Index. The rest of Europe – and the rest of the world for that matter – still has a long way to go. Most countries score well in the ‘Operating Environment’ and ‘Government Strategy’ categories, meaning public opinion and government willingness is fruitful for AI development. What most countries lack, however, is 'Research' and 'Development'. Created by Meike Eijsberg. Source: European Correspondent Analysis of Tortoise Global AI Index 2024 https://buff.ly/4dMoDJf #AI #Europe #EuropeanCorrespondent