Idit Ohel: From a Hamas video I saw that my son was kidnapped and his friends were killed.
Idit Ohel, the mother of 23-year-old Alon, who was kidnapped from a music festival on October 7th by Hamas, tells in Labyrinth about the agony she has been living in for half a year since her son was held hostage. She says that she knows absolutely nothing about her son for half a year. Alon is a promising pianist and has dual Israeli and Serbian citizenship, and his mother says she contacted the Serbian government to help somehow. Idit tells about the terrible October 7th, about her son and the efforts of families to get their loved ones back.
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Dolidze: Georgians are not giving up on the fight for a European future – There will be protests even during the holidays
Georgians will welcome the New Year with protests and will not give up on their European future – says the Leader of the For the People party, Anna Dolidze. Dolidze is an expert in international law, until 2018 she was the legal advisor to the President, and then a member of the Judicial Council.
In Labyrinth we talked about the stolen elections and the Russian hybrid influence that managed to divert the country from the European integration path. The protests escalated, and the use of water cannons and violence by the police did not change the Georgians’ minds to continue fighting for their rights. About 500 protesters, including some injured, will spend the holidays in detention. We also discussed with Dolidze the international support and the sanctions imposed by the US and the UK on some of the Georgian authorities, but not by the European Union.
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Macedonia got a new President - Eastern European countries are fighting for democracy
Analysis of Macedonian diplomacy, Callings from Georgia and Ukraine on the situation with the protests and the war.
The first guest in this edition of Labyrinth is the former Ambassador of Macedonia to Sweden and Romania, Tihomir Ilievski. We talked about the oath taken by the new President and the reactions it caused among our neighbors. Despite the reactions and difficulties in bilateral relations, the diplomat is still optimistic about the European integration of Macedonia, as well as about the normalization of relations in the entire Balkans.
In Georgia, massive civil protests are taking place over the law on "foreign agents" which moves the country away from the European path, but also seriously threatens the livelihood and freedom of Georgian citizens. From Tbilisi, we were joined by Ekaterine Basilaia - director of the Center for Media and Social Research of Georgia, who explained in more detail what this law is and why so many people took to the streets. We discussed the use of excessive force by the police in arresting peaceful protesters and the legal fight to protect those detained.
In Labyrinth, we also included the volunteer in the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, Volodymyr Sapekhin. Volodymyr has been going to the fronts and back for more than two years. We talked about the current situation on the fronts, about the progress of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, but also about his personal feelings about the two realities he lives in.
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Analyses of conflict zones and experiences from war hotspots
A series of interviews about crisis areas and personal experiences of journalists and humanitarians - Sееma Jilani, Michael Bociurkiw, Adelin Pertisor and Giorgi Dolidze in this Labyrinth.
This week, Labyrinth in Tbilisi at one of the biggest journalism events - the ZEG Festival. We had the opportunity to talk to journalists from all over the world about the current situation in their countries. We present you a series of interviews about the countries that are currently in the global focus.
We spoke with one of the keynote speakers at the event, a doctor who has dedicated her life to treating children in the most vulnerable places in the world, Seema Jilani. We talked about the great humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes, the Gaza Strip, and how we can help people cut off from all help. Seema also shared her personal experience of what it feels like to treat her own child injured in an explosion in Beirut.
The war in Ukraine is still raging, and since the coming to power of US President Donald Trump, Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital seem to have increased. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Israel and Iran are fiercely attacking each other. We talk about the situation in Ukraine and the current hot spots in the Middle East with Atlantic Council analyst Michael Bociurkiw, who regularly analyzes for CNN and other global media.
At the event, we also had the opportunity to talk with our colleague Adelin Pertisor from the Romanian public service, who is one of the most experienced war reporters. He reported on wars in the Middle East, Africa, as well as the Balkan conflicts and had the opportunity to interview a large number of leaders, but also some notorious militants such as Željko Ražnjatović - Arkan. Of course, we also talked about the situation in Romania after the annulled elections when the Constitutional Court recognized Russian influence in the electoral process.
Since Georgia got a new pro-Russian President who imposed a series of undemocratic laws, Georgians have been protesting every day. Media freedom and civil society are under attack, and journalists and citizens are facing prison sentences. We talk to Georgian colleague Giorgi Dolidze about what is happening in his country.
Watch the full episode.
