The Central European space of thought is different than last year; in comparison to the events of recent months, the colonial lines that cut through its interior are clearer. Today, we are looking for a bond, unique values, foundations that can preserve our coexistence. Europe, the European Union, has failed as a cultural project; it was easily overgrown by strong narratives built on lies and fear. We are meeting among neighbors, and each of us testifies too simple and selfish divisions within our own societies, which do not measure up to the Ukrainian energy of resistance. Perhaps it's not so simple when we think about the resources of Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Slovak populists in comparison to the struggle of individuals. Complicating certain images and smoothing the edges becomes to painful and too easy while listening to Maksym Butkevych, a Ukrainian activist, prisoner of war and human right activists. Butkevych spoke of the loneliness coming out from an experience that only Ukrainians, only soldiers, only someone who remained in Russian captivity for two years, carry. And such loneliness does not end quickly, because you don't want someone else to carry this experience, you don't want to share this kind of loneliness, even if that's the only thing that could quickly alleviate it. For Butkevych, this is also a state leading to a certain ontological difference that transforms relations with Others, introduces a completely new kind of freedom that can only be realized thanks to Others. How far this is from a European who, according to liberal logic, is free when he isolates himself from Others, becomes independent, and seals his borders. Krzysztof Czyżewski also spoke about this, about a culture subjected to market laws, where support and aid are measured by profitability and results, covering fear with a story of pragmatism. This gives rise to the need for a different language, perhaps sharp and full of criticism, to awaken something, to shake an egotistical society focused on finding nuances, actually reasons not to act empathetically, fully. Loneliness threatens a state in which reality loses its reality, the certainty that the occurring cruelty, evil exists and is really happening, slips away. Loneliness grows in isolation and oblivion, which Russia is perfectly aware of today, but which has become an imperial technique in many places, such as the Caucasus and Armenia. Our role as neighbors seems clear here; being a neighbor means being a witness at the same time, especially today, when every day we display images directly from the very center of the greatest crimes. Central Europe, which is free thanks to Others, can draw many ideas from the crisis; it reminds us of the fluidity of our neighboring borders and, of course, allows us to think about tomorrow.
photography: Nataliya Radchenko
ICES - The Institute for Central European Strategy
Dilemma Academy
PEN Armenia
Georgian Literary Initiative
