BRUSSELS - Europe is expanding. May 2004 will be the moment of truth. Europe will then extend beyond the tundra of Finland, the sovkhozes and kolkhozes of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the billboard-cluttered landscape of Poland, the gypsy settlements of Slovakia and the nationalism-ridden countryside of Hungary. In another three years, poverty-stricken Romania and Bulgaria will join the European Union.

Journalist Irene van der Linde and photographer Nicole Segers travelled five thousand kilometres from village to village along Europe's new eastern border — from Lapland to the Black Sea. They met a colourful collection of border dwellers: farmers, reindeer herders, Roma, students, monks, mayors, fascists, anarchists, border guards, smugglers, illegal immigrants. Why do these people welcome the border or curse it? What does Europe mean to them? And what do they mean to Europe? This is not a casual acquaintance. The border peoples may live far away, but their dreams, frustrations and ideas inevitably find their way into our living rooms, via Brussels or directly.

The End of Europe is a unique combination of literary journalism and photo documentary. The book provides a rich and penetrating picture of the new Europe — our new Europe. A Europe about which we still know far too little.

Photos: © Irene Segers

Supported
€5,000 allocated on 18/10/2002
ID:
FPD/2002/150

Themes

Publication

BOOK

  • Title: Het einde van Europa
    Subtitle: Ontmoetingen langs de nieuwe oostgrens
    Authors: Irene Van der Linde & Nicole Segers
    Publisher: Lemniscaat, Rotterdam
    ISBN: 90 5637 582 2
    Pages: 429
  • Title: Gens des confins
    Subtitle: Sur la frontière orientale de l'Europe
    Authors: Irene Van der Linde & Nicole Segers
    Publisher: Noir Sur Blanc, Paris
    ISBN: 2882502346
    Pages: 474

EXHIBITION

PRINT/ONLINE

AWARDS

  • Nominatie, Prix du Livre Européen

COUNTRIES

  • Romania
  • Bulgaria
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Hungary
  • Estonia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • ...

Team members

Need resources for your own investigative story?

Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.

Support independent cross-border investigative journalism

We rely on your support to continue the work that we do. Make a gift of any amount today.