© Reuters / Bernadett Szabo
Report

How Viktor Orbán is reprogramming Hungarians’ brains

Hungary is not blocking the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions, but it is opening its media landscape wide to the Russian war narrative. What is behind this apparent paradox?
Report

Cycling through Israeli nature parks, where forests cover the ruins of Palestinian villages

MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans cycled through the west of Jerusalem with Israeli and Palestinian cycling tourists. Separately, through the same area, but in different worlds. Forests and natural parks cover obliterated Palestinian villages. ‘I want to tell about it. We will never forget.’
© Pieter Stockmans
Report

Cycling in the land of settlements, walls and military checkpoints

Can you develop a cycling club in occupied Palestinian territory? Sohaib Samara does it. MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans navigated with him between Israeli settlements, walls and military checkpoints. The ultimate dream? A real Palestinian cycling academy.
© Justyna Wydrzyńska
Interview

Convicted Polish activist: “Women’s bodies are the property of society”

In Poland, an activist was convicted of 'assisting abortion'. The case has implications that go beyond the impact on women's rights: it challenges the European legal order and shows the far-reaching consequences of political authoritarianism and Catholic fundamentalism with government power.
© Xander Stockmans
News

Back to the Romanian-Ukrainian border: ‘Spontaneous solidarity has greatly diminished’

Fleeing your country is one thing. But what comes after, when you have reached a safe country and the weeks and months pass? MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans returned to the Romanian-Ukrainian border, where he saw a wave of solidarity with refugees last year. What has changed?
© Pieter Stockmans
Report

Free Palestine on bikes: ‘If Israelis can go anywhere in this country, so can we’

A group of Palestinians from Bethlehem use bicycles as a means to 'win their freedom'. They ride everywhere, including across the Israeli border, without a permit. MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans crossed the desert with them, cycling from Bethlehem in Palestine to the Dead Sea in Israel.
© Xander Stockmans
Report

How Viktor Orbán is annexing the Hungarian minority in Romania

Viktor Orbán is incorporating Hungarian minorities abroad into his sphere of influence. MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans cycled through Székely Land, a Hungarian enclave in the heart of Romania.
© Maarten Peeters
Analysis

A three-headed dragon is depopulating Europe

A three-headed dragon is haunting Europe. It is ageing the population, causing women to have fewer children and pushing hundreds of thousands away from their homelands. Bulgaria, for example, has the fastest declining population in the world. The European Commission is putting up its defences against this threat. It appointed a first-ever and ...
© Reuters
News

Coronavirus in Northwest Syria: ‘We have survived ten years of war just to die of a virus’

COVID-19 is leaving a trail of destruction throughout Northwest Syria. The region, which has experienced the evils of war in recent years, is an easy prey for the virus. Refugees in Belgium are losing one loved one after the other. MO* spoke to doctors and family members of victims.
© REUTERS/Stringer
Analysis

War on journalism in Belarus: ‘European Union is reacting too slowly’

‘Every journalist has spare clothes in his or her backpack. Because we are never sure we will make it home again.’ For more than a month now, Belarusian President Lukashenko has been waging a war on journalists. ‘But we keep on writing. That is our responsibility.’
© Xander Stockmans
Report

‘Illegal wood does not disappear from Ukrainian forests on its own’

In recent years, more wood was exported from Ukraine than officially logged. This can only be explained by illegal logging of wood that ends up in our printing paper, our clothing, IKEA furniture and other furniture. MO* went out into the Ukrainian woods.
© Reuters
Analysis

Chinese and Russian ‘aid propaganda’ hijacks European corona crisis

The coronavirus is a magnifying glass that allows us to see the fault lines and changes in the world more sharply than ever. In the early days of the crisis, the EU showed a great inability to react in a coordinated manner, which in turn gave China and Russia much extra room to increase their influence in Eastern Europe. Are we bringing in the ...

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