Česa takšnega še nismo doživeli: več kot 170 profesorjev in akademikov se je podpisalo pod javno pismo slovenskemu premierju, ki mu pikolovsko očitajo, kako njegova vlada nekaterih direktorjev muzejev in direktorja enega inštituta ni ponovno imenovala na položaj (?!). Prav tako se razburjajo zaradi domnevnega načrtovanja Muzeja slovenske osamosvojitve, o katerem očitno vedno več kot slovenski mediji oziroma javnost. Bizarnost, ki je očitna na prvi pogled, razkriva še več: za veliko večino podpisnikov - med njimi so tudi učenjaki za Srednjo in Vzhodno Evropo iz Nove Zelandije, Kazahstana, Singapurja - v Sloveniji še nikoli nismo slišali, seveda pa velja predvsem obratno. Ali kot je včeraj na tviterju zapisal naš odgovorni urednik Dejan Steinbuch: "Half of these guys don't have a clue about Slovenian politics, other half has heard of Slovenia once in their lifetime" (Polovica teh tipov nima pojma o slovenski politiki, druga polovica pa je za Slovenijo slišala enkrat v svojem življenju.)
Umetno ustvarjene skupine pritiska, izjave javnih osebnosti in razna "odprta pisma" uglednih intelektualcev, s katerimi se psihološko obdela medije in javno mnenje do te mere, da ljudje začnejo verjeti v nekaj, kar ni nujno res in kar je bilo ustvarjeno z očitnim namenom, da se nekomu škoduje ali ga po krivem obdolži nečastnih namenov, niso od včeraj. Mojstri za t.i. smear campaigns* so Američani, kjer je tradicija na tem področju stara že krepko več kot stoletje. Ena izmed zadnjih in najbolj očitnih žrtev globalne "mazaške akcije", kot bi lahko prevedli to besedno zvezo v slovenščino, je bil Julian Assange, v zvezi s katerim se je pojavljal očitek, da je pred leti na Švedskem poskušal posiliti neko žensko, kar naj bi v končni konsekvenci pomenilo, da je tip posiljevalec in spolni iztirjenec. In ker je bil Assange zaradi svojega projekta Wiki Leaks trn v peti administracije Baracka Obame, so se ga dejansko lotili z vsemi, tudi najbolj umazanimi triki. Marsikdo priznava, da so Demokrati vsaj v tem boljši od Republikancev.
Mazaške akcije, kjer so žrtve vodilni politiki, predsedniški kandidati, aktivisti za človekove pravice ali pa nekdanji zakonski partnerji, so v dobi interneta dobesedno dobile krila. Danes je relativno enostavno sestaviti javno izjavo, memorandum ali odprto pismo, pridobiti določeno število dovolj relevantnih podpisnikov, ki dokumentu dajo potrebno kredibilnost, ter ga poslati v javnost. Snežna kepa se zvali po strmini in z nekaj sreče kmalu preraste v plaz, ki lahko pod seboj pokoplje ali pa vsaj hudo škoduje tudi še tako "stabilnemu" in brezmadežnemu politiku.
Slovenija na tapeti
Problem mazaških akcij je seveda večplasten. Najprej vsebinski. Očitki na račun žrtve sicer niso nujno povsem izmišljeni in za lase prevlečeni, vendar pa so v vsakem primeru hudo pretirani. Manipuliranje s podatki, prevračanje dejstev in zlasti napihovanje resničnih dogodkov so nujni za uspešno mazaško akcijo. Naslednji element so podpisniki; če niso dovolj prepričljivi, javnost ne bo kupila njihovih trditev. Še najmanj pozornosti gre naročnikom oziroma tistim iz ozadja, ki so vse skupaj pripravili. Če se njihova imena razkrijejo, je to zanje zagotovo hudo neprijetno in negativni sloves umazanih spletkarjev jih lahko spremlja do konca kariere ali celo življenja.
V zadnjem času sta slovenska vlada, še posebej njen premier Janez Janša, postali priljubljeni tarči tovrstnih mazaških akcij. Spomnimo se pisem v podporo Zdenki Badovinac, ki so jih napisale tri ugledne mednarodne umetniške eminence, pa se je izkazalo, da gre v resnici za umetno ustvarjeno "lobistično akcijo" v podporo gospe, ki je na čelu ljubljanske Moderne galerije že skoraj 29 let. Še bolj obširna pa je zadnja akcija, o kateri so slovenski mediji poročali pred dvema tednoma, vendar se nihče ni dejansko lotil njenega ozadja. Gre za Pismo Janezu Janši, predsedniku vlade Slovenije (A Letter to Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia, vir), ki ga objavljamo v celoti in na koncu tudi vse podpisnike, pod katerim se je po poročanji slovenskih medijev podpisalo 175 uglednih osebnosti iz akademskih krogov, raziskovalcev, intelekualcev in drugih eminenc. Na prvi pogled impresiven nabor, tudi način, na katerega je bilo pismo lansirano v javnost, se zdi pristen in dobronameren. Toda ...
Specialisti za Slovenijo iz Kazahstana
... hudič se skriva v detajlih. Najprej je tu samohvala podpisnikov, ki sami sebe nazivajo "specialisti za Srednjo in Jugovzhodno Evropo ter drugi, ki jih zanimata kultura in politika regije" (We — specialists in Central and South East Europe and others interested in the culture and politics of the region ...) Regije? Katere regije? Srednja Evropa in Jugovzhodna Evropa zagotovo nista ena regija, še manj pa sta ena in ista regija. Da so med podpisniki tudi takšni, ki se zaradi svojega porekla, geografskih danosti ali osebnih preferenc dejansko ukvarjajo (tudi) s Slovenijo, verjetno ni vprašljivo. Nenazadnje je med njimi tudi ducat akademskih osebnosti iz območja bivše Jugoslavije, podpisnik pa je, presenetljivo, tudi Wolfgang Petritsch, bivši visoki predstavnik EU na Kosovu in predstavnik mednarodne skupnosti v Bosni in Hercegovini (Petritsch je sicer tudi edini podpisnik, ki je slovenski javnosti vsaj približno znan, op. uredn.).
Toda mar kdo verjame, da se vseh 175 podpisnikov dovolj spozna na Slovenijo in še posebej na slovensko notranjo politiko, da bi lahko kvalificirano presojali konkretne očitke, ki se pojavljajo v pismu? Koliko od njih ima vsaj minimalno znanje o Sloveniji, naši politiki in politikih, kdo izmed 175 podpisnikov bi znal našteti stranke, ki so trenutno v vladi oziroma opozicije?

(S klikom na faksimile povečajte sliko)
Poanta, ki jo odpiramo, je zelo preprosta in jo bomo, če nam bodo organizatorji iniciative, na katere smo naslovili nekaj zelo konkretnih novinarskih vprašanj, poslali odgovore, brez težav pojasnili. Dokler pa ne dobimo odgovorov, ostajamo skeptični in ocenjujemo, da velikanska večina podpisnikov nima najmanjšega pojma o slovenski politiki, pa so se ne glede na to nekritično podpisali pod to pismo, ki vsebuje nekaj zelo konkretnih, celo pikolovskih obtožb. Organizatorje smo prav tako prosili, naj nam razkrijejo, kdo je bil pobudnik pisma oziroma kdo ga je pripravil, vendar močno dvomimo, da bodo to storili. Kajti ravno tu je bržkone vsa skrivnost te iniciative: namreč avtorstvo oziroma pobuda, ki je po naših informacijah povsem slovenska in je prišla iz nikjer drugod kot iz Slovenije (!). Dobili smo celo namig, da bi pobudnik utegnil biti profesor Rudi Rizman, ki je že iz časov afere Depala vas "stari prijatelj" Janeza Janše.
Bizarna skrb za direktorje muzejev
Številčnost podpisnikov preseneča vsaj v tem pogledu, da je tisti, ki je pismo iniciiral, resnično potrudil in v akcijo vključil vse svoje akademsko omrežje. Akademiki, ki sami sebe imenujejo "specialisti" za Srednjo in JV Evropo, povzemajo politično oceno dela slovenske opozicije in protivladnih aktivistov, češ da premier Janez Janša vlada s "trdo roko", da omejuje akademsko svobodo in avtonomijo, s čemer ogroža tudi demokracijo v Sloveniji.
Bizaren je tudi odstavek, kjer podpisniki pravijo, da je vlada v zadnjih mesecih "odklonila ponovno imenovanje direktorjev več muzejev in enega direktorja raziskovalnega inštituta". V čem je tu problem? Da je reelekcija samoumevna? Da je lahko nekdo tudi dvajset ali trideset let na čelu nekega javnega zavoda, če ima ustrezno politično podporo? Sploh pa je deplasirano za akademike, da se ukvarjajo s kadrovsko politiko na področju javnih zavodov s področja kulture v Sloveniji. Zanimalo nas je, ali pošiljajo podobna zaskrbljena pisma tudi francoski, španski ali avstrijski vladi, če te ne sledijo politiki svojih predhodnic in na položaje direktorjev muzejev ponovno ne imenujejo enih in istih ljudi?
Vzemimo še enkrat za primer Zdenko Badovinac, direktorico Moderne galerije, ki je na tem položaju že skoraj 29 let. Ravno v tem času ji poteče mandat v.d. direktorice, pri čemer je zanjo očitno samoumevno, da bo dobila še en mandat, vendar pa je dal minister za kulturo Vasko Simoniti vedeti, da ni najbolj navdušen nad njeno reelekcijo, zaradi česar so se pred nekaj tedni v javnosti pojavila tri zaskrbljena pisma treh uglednih mednarodnih eminenc s področja kulture in umetnosti, o čemer smo na portalu+ poročali (vir), in sicer Borisa Groysa, Petra Weibela in Viktorja Misiana. Škandal, ki smo ga razkrili, se skriva v vsebini njihovih pisem, ki so v bistvu eno samo, saj gre dobesedno za en in isti tekst (!). Da bo zadrega še večja, je že iz slovnične strukture hitro razvidno, da je tekst pisal nekdo iz Slovenije in ga zgolj preposlal trem eminencam, ki so ga potem vsak zase poslale nazaj v Slovenijo "v svojem imenu".
Po naših informacijah se je zgodilo naslednje: da bi "podprli" Badovinčevo in na ministra za kulturo izvedli javni pritisk, so uprizorili predstavo o tem, kako svetovna imena s področja umetnosti podpirajo direktorico ljubljanske Moderne galerije, ki je na položaju že dobrih 28 let. Toda predstava je spodletela, ker so jo preveč zanikrno pripravili, portal+ pa vse skupaj razkril javnosti ... Da smo z objavo dregnili v sršenje gnezo, pričajo tudi besni odzivi iz prizadetih kulturniških krogov, ki so našemu odgovornemu uredniku obljubili, da mu tega zlepa ne bodo odpustili.
Očitno se zdaj predstava ponavlja, tokrat ne s tremi, pač pa kar 175 udeleženimi podpisniki. Toda scenarij je podoben in tudi tokrat vse kaže, da je avtor izvirnega teksta, pod katerega so se povsem nekritično, avtomatično podpisovali "akademski specialisti", organsko povezan z našim akademskim okoljem. Pranje slovenskega umazanega perila pred tujo javnostjo se torej nadaljuje, država pa je vsak dan bolj podobna banana republiki.
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* An effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It can be applied to individuals or groups. (Poskus škodovati nekomu ali pod vprašaj postaviti njegov ugled s tem, da se poudarja negativna propaganda. Nanaša se na posameznike ali skupine.)
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A Letter to Janez Janša, Prime Minister of Slovenia
We—specialists in Central and South East Europe and others interested in the culture and politics of the region—wish to register our concern about the increasingly heavy hand that the current government of the Republic of Slovenia under Prime Minister Janez Janša wields over the autonomy of scholars and academics in Slovenia. We are prompted by our sincere fear that academic freedom – one of the core values of the European Union and of democracy – is under threat.
We wish to draw attention to some of his government’s domestic policies, especially its attempt to take control of important cultural and academic institutions. Since Janša became Prime Minister in March 2020, the Slovene government has refused to reappoint several museum directors and one director of a research institute. We find no grounds for their de facto dismissal given their track records in office: these are individuals who have effectively and successfully managed their institutions and formed important international partnerships with similar institutions abroad. The Prime Minister’s chief concern seems to be their failure to submit entirely to his government’s political agenda; their replacements were individuals with lesser professional credentials, and the appointment of the new director of the National Museum of Slovenia directly contradicts the International Council of Museums’ Code of Ethics. The frequency of such interventions and the many clear signals that more are to come further prove that these are not normal personnel decisions, but rather the first steps in an attempt to curtail the independence of scholars and to place narratives about the past under government control. In an open and pluralist society, such as Slovenia professes to be, scholars and professionals must be allowed to work without this kind of political and governmental interference.
The recently announced plan to establish a new Museum of Slovene Independence further suggests that what we are observing is an attempt to control an entire scholarly field. As a November 15 press release makes clear, the government considers this museum an opportunity to showcase the ‘sacrifices of our forefathers, who died for independent statehood during the centuries of foreign rule’. Such statements, which contradict everything modern scholarship has taught us about the Slovene past, demonstrate that the new museum would be nothing but a propaganda institution, promoting a nationalist narrative about the past, one aimed at buttressing the ideological agenda of the Prime Minister and his Slovene Democratic Party.
Such manoeuvring is not unprecedented. We have observed similar—and largely successful—attempts in some other European countries. The would-be-authoritarian governments in Poland, Hungary, but also in Russia have all used similar tactics as they tried and often succeeded in controlling and disciplining civil society and academia. Unrestrained nationalism, anti-Semitic tropes, xenophobia, and a disregard for democratic norms have become part and parcel of the current Prime Minister’s modus operandi.
While we do not question the Prime Minister’s and his government’s right to their personal opinions, we also do not question the legitimacy of differing views of the history of Slovenia. But we do condemn government attempts to impose politically motivated interpretations, make them binding, thus, stifling academic freedom. We call for the Prime Minister and the government to guarantee the free and open exchange of ideas in academia and museums that is both a hallmark and a pillar of democratic, civil society. We also ask that his partners in the European People’s Party group of the European Parliament publicly call on the Slovene government to explain its recent actions and to ensure that academic and professional freedom will be protected in Slovenia.
- Hugh L. Agnew, Professor of History and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Aleida Assmann, Professor, University of Konstanz, Germany
- Jan Assmann, Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany
- Christian Axboe Nielsen, Associate Professor of History and Human Security, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Balasz Apor, Associate Professor of European History, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
- Gruia Badescu, Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, University of Konstanz, Germany
- Pamela Ballinger, Fred Cuny Chair in the History of Human Rights, Department of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
- Dimitar Bechev, Europe’s Future Fellow, Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Orel Beilinson, Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Dion van den Berg, Team leader of Europe of PAX, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Carl Bethke, PhD, University Leipzig, Germany
- Florian Bieber, Professor of South East European History and Politics; Director of the Center for South East European Studies, University of Graz, Austria
- Julie Biro, Documentary filmmaker, Paris, France
- Muriel Blaive, Ph.D., Historian, IFK, Vienna, Austria
- Etienne Boisserie, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Central European History, Inalco, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
- Melissa Bokovoy, Professor of History and Regents’ Lecturer in Arts and Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Marco Bresciani, Research Fellow, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Florence, Italy
- Ulf Brunnbauer, Professor, Director of the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Germany
- Cathie Carmichael, Professor of European History, University of East Anglia, UK
- Holly Case, Professor of History, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- Doina Anca Cretu, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- Patrice Dabrowski, Ph.D., Independent Scholar and Editor, H-Poland, Boston, MA, USA
- Laura Lee Downs, Professor of Gender and Sexuality, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
- Gábor Egry, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Director, Institute of Political History, Budapest, Hungary
- Rosemary Feurer, Associate Professor of History and Public Historian, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL; Director, Mother Jones Museum and Heritage Project, USA
- Michal Frankl, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- Lejla Gačanica, Independent Researcher, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Emily Gioielli, Ph.D., Fellow, Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, Germany
- Rainer Gries, Director of the Franz Vranitzky Chair for European Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria
- Dominika Gruziel, European Research Council Fellow, European University Institute, Italy
- Jordi Guixé, Associate Professor, Department of Arts and Public Space and Director of European Observatory on Memories, University of Barcelona, Spain
- Dagmar Hájková, Ph.D., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- Carol Harrington, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- Edin Hajdarpašić, Associate Professor of History, Loyola University, Chicago, USA
- Elma Hasimbegović, Director of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jiří Hutečka, Associate Professor of History, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
- Trude Jacobsen, Professor of History, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
- Pieter M. Judson, Professor of 19th and 20th Century History, European University Institute Florence, Italy
- Thede Kahl, Head of the Institute of South Slavic Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany,
- Tomasz Kamusella, FRHistS, Reader in Modern History, School of History, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
- Karl Kaser, Professor for Southeast European History and Anthropology, University of Graz, Austria
- Dominique Kirchner Reill, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of Miami, Florida, USA
- Axel Klausmeier, Director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, Germany
- Victoria Kothrade, Executive Director, Thomas Edison House – Historic Homes Foundation of Louisville, KY USA
- Gregor Kranjc, Associate Professor, Brock University, Canada
- Jasmina Lazović, Cofounder and program associate, Center for Public History, Belgrade, Serbia
- Paul Lerner, Professor of History, University of Southern California, USA
- Cybele Locke, Senior Lecturer in History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- Thomas Lutz, Head of Memorial Museums Department, Topography of Terror Foundation Berlin, Germany
- Siniša Malešević, Full Professor of Sociology, Director of Research, School of Sociology, University College Dublin, Ireland
- Jill Massino, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA
- Alexander Maxwell, Associate Professor of History, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, Director of the State Ethnographical Collections in Leipzig, Dresden and Herrnhut, Germany
- Peter van Mensch, Independent Museologist, Leipzig, Germany
- Nicolas Moll, Historian and Intercultural Trainer, Crossborder Factory, Sarajevo/Paris, Bosnia and Hercegovina/France
- Marco Mondini, Professor of History of Conflicts, University of Padua, Italy
- Dietmar Müller, Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) and member of the Scientific Board of üdosteuropa Gesellschaft, Germany
- John Paul Newman, Associate Professor of European History, Maynooth University, Maynooth, President of the Irish Association of Russian, Central and East European Studies, Ireland
- Brigitte Le Normand, Associate Professor of History and Director, Public Humanities Hub – Okanagan, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Canada
- John O’Brennan, Jean Monnet Chair in European integration and Director of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, Maynooth, Ireland
- Vjeran Pavlaković, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia
- Wolfgang Petritsch, Ambassador ret., former EU Special Envoy for Kosovo, former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria
- Milovan Pissari, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
- Christian Promitzer, Ph. D., Institute for History, Section of Southeast European History and Anthropology, University of Graz, Austria
- Iris Rachamimov, Professor, Department of History, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- Aviel Roshwald, Professor of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- Sabine Rutar, Research Associate, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Germany
- Günter Schlusche, Architect / urban planner, Coordinator for planning and construction at the Berlin Wall Foundation, Germany
- Steven Seegel, Professor of History, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA
- Tamara Smidling, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
- Christope Solioz, Secretary General, Multiplex Approach (MAP) Nomad Think Tank, Geneva, Switzerland
- Richard Steigmann-Gall, Associate Professor of History, Kent State University, OH, USA
- Marijana Stojčić, Centre for Public History Belgrade, Serbia
- Anika Walke, Associate Professor of History, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
- Yiyan Wang, Professor of Chinese, School of Languages and Cultures, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- Markus Wien, Professor, Department of History and Civilizations, American University in Bulgaria; President, Bulgarian Studies Association, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Nancy M. Wingfield, Presidential Research Professor Emerita, Northern Illinois University, USA
- Lili Zach, Ph.D., Associate Member of the Maynooth University Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth, Ireland
- Tara Zahra, Homer J. Livingston Professor of East European History and the College, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Marco Abram, PhD, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
- Wilson Bell, Associate Professor, Thompson Rivers University, Canada
- Simone Attilio Bellezza, Assistant Professor of Modern History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
- Giovanni Bernardini, PhD, University of Verona, Italy
- Jochen Boehler, PD Dr., Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
- Katherine Bowers, Associate Professor of Slavic Studies, Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Angela Brintlinger, Director of the Center for Slavic and East European Studies; Professor of Slavic Studies, Ohio State University, USA
- Chad Bryant, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
- Giulia Buscherini, MA in Political Sciences, Italy
- Marco Buttino, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, University of Turin, Italy
- Daniela L. Caglioti, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
- Simona Cannalire, , University of Bologna, Italy
- Francesco Cassata, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Genoa, Italy
- Luisa Chiodi, PhD, Director, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
- Mark Cornwall, Professor of Modern European History, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
- Vanni D’Alessio, Researcher of Modern History, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
- István Deák, Emeritus Professor History, Columbia University, USA
- Mario Del Pero, Professor of International History, SciencesPo, Paris, France
- Theodora Dragostinova, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University, USA
- Melissa Feinberg, Professor of History, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
- Lorenzo Ferrari, PhD, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa, Italy
- Federico Finchelstein, Professor of History, New School, New York, NY USA
- Monica Fioravanzo, Associate Professor of Contemporary History, University of Padua, Italy
- Giovanni Focardi, Professore associato, Università di Padova, Italy
- Filippo Focardi, Full Professor of Contemporary History, Università di Padova, Italy
- Laurie Franklin, Writer, USA
- Cathleen Giustino, CLA Endowed Prestigious Research Professor, Auburn University, USA
- Eagle Glassheim, Professor of History, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Krista Goff, Assistant Professor of History, University of Miami, USA
- Paul Gradvohl, Professor of History, Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
- Andrea Graziosi, Professor of History, University of Naples Federico II and Scuola superiore meridionale, Italy
- Irina Gridan, Associate Professor of History, Inalco, Paris, France
- Paul Hanebrink, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA
- Yana Hashamova, Professor of Slavic and Film Studies, Chair of the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Ohio State University, USA
- Dan Healey, Professor of Modern Russian History, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Maureen Healy, Associate Professor and Chair of History Department, Lewis & Clark College, USA
- Siobhan Hearne, Postdoctoral Researcher, Durham University, United Kingdom
- Aleksandar Hemon, Professor, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, USA
- Aida Hozic, Associate Professor, University of Florida, USA
- Bogdan Cristian Iacob, Researcher, Institute of History in Bucharest, Romania
- Ilinca Iurascu, Associate Professor of German, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Tvrtko Jakovina, Tenured professor, University of Zagreb, Croatia
- Ivan Jeličić, PhD, Institute of Political History, Budapest, Hungary
- Mary-Allen Johnson, Associate Professor, Ohio State University, USA
- Tom Junes, PhD, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
- Dzeneta Karabegovic, PhD, University of Salzburg, Austria
- Padraic Kenney, Professor of History and Associate Dean, Indiana University, USA
- Vojtěch Kessler, PhD, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Audrey Kichelewski, Associate Professor of History, Strasbourg University, France
- Lisa Kirschenbaum, Professor of History, West Chester University, USA
- Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Director of the Human Rights Program, Purdue University, USA
- Michal Kšiňan, PhD, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
- Jiří Kubeš, Associate Professor of History and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Rudolf Kučera, Doc., Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Milena Lenderová, Professor, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Antonis Liakos, Professor Emeritus, University of Athens, Greece
- Howard Louthan, Professor of History and Director, Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota, USA
- Anne Madelain, Associate Professor, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris, France
- Ervin Malakaj, Assistant Professor of German Studies, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Antoine Marès, Professeur émérite, histoire de l’Europe centrale contemporaine, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France
- Malgorzata Mazurek, Associate Professor of Polish Studies, Columbia University, USA
- Matteo Millan, Associate professor of modern and contemporary history, University of Padova, Italy
- Pavel Mücke, Senior Researcher/Associated Professor, Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences / Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Jasmin Mujanović, PhD, Sarajevo Calling: A Podcast of Southeast European Affairs
- Dana Musilová, Professor of History, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
- Robert Nemes, Professor of History, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY USA
- Mila Orlić, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Rijeka, Croatia
- Andrea Orzoff, Associate Professor of History, New Mexico State University, USA
- Kathrin Pabst, PhD Museum Ethics, Vest-Agder Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
- Cynthia Paces, Professor of History, The College of New Jersey, USA
- Luisa Passerini, Professor Emerita, Department of History and Civilisation, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
- Srdja Pavlovic, PhD, Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies, University of Alberta, Canada
- Stefano Petrungaro, Associate Professor, History of Eastern Europe, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
- Niccolò Pianciola, Associate Professor of History, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
- Ségolène Plyer, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Université de Strasbourg, France
- Besnik Pula, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Joachim von Puttkamer, Prof. Dr., Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, Germany
- Immo Rebitschek, Assistant Professor for East European History, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
- Máté Rigó, Assistant Professor, Yale-NUS College, Singapore
- Francesca Rolandi, PhD, Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- Clemens Ruthner, Assistant Professor and Director of Research, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
- Lewis Siegelbaum, Jack and Margaret Sweet Professor Emeritus of History, Michigan State University, USA
- Aline Sierp, Assistant Professor, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
- Marius Stan, Political Scientist, Research director of the Hannah Arendt Center, University of Bucharest, Romania
- Ronald Suny, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History, University of Michigan, USA
- Oswald Überegger, Director of the Competence Center for Regional History, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
- Daniel Unowsky, Professor of History, University of Memphis, USA
- Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Political Theory, Columbia University, USA
- Martina Urbinati, MA in Interdisciplinary Research and Studies on Eastern Europe, University of Bologna, Italy
- Jana Vargovcikova, Assistant Professor, Inalco, France
- Lorenzo Venuti, PhD candidate, University of Florence, Italy
- László Vörös, PhD, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
- Srdjan Vucetic, Associate Professor, International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada
- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor of History, UC Irvine, USA
- Julija S. Winikoff, Lecturer, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand
- Konstantina Zanou, Assistant Professor of Italian, Columbia University, USA