Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus: Narrowing Borders

This period demonstrates that artistic freedom remains deeply intertwined with wider political and social tensions across Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. As governments invoke security concerns, societies debate identity, and conflicts shape public life, artists often become the first to encounter the boundaries of acceptable expression. The cases documented here suggest that those boundaries are becoming increasingly contested and, in some places, increasingly narrow.

Artistic Freedom and Civic Space: Rising Global Concerns

International institutions recognise these patterns as part of broader attacks on civic space. In March, the European Parliament adopted resolutions on human rights violations in Georgia, including one condemning the persecution of political opponents and calling for targeted EU sanctions. A month later, it warned that Russia’s war extends beyond military aggression to attacks on Ukraine’s cultural identity. EU statements throughout 2026 also highlighted the absence of independent journalism and freedom of expression in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. For artists, these concerns are reflected in the prosecution of anti-war speech, forced exile, venue and platform censorship, and the use of “foreign agent” and “undesirable organisation” designations to marginalise independent cultural voices.

Eastern Europe: War, Repression and Identity Politics

In Russia, a notable case of artistic expression challenging the official narrative of the war in Ukraine that arose this year was the banning of Pavel Talankin’s Oscar-winning documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which documents wartime propaganda in a Russian school. Prosecutors claimed the film promoted extremism, negative attitudes toward the government and the war.

Ukraine’s cultural sector remains under pressure from Russia’s ongoing war. European institutions have repeatedly framed Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian cultural infrastructure and heritage as part of a wider attempt to erase Ukrainian identity. The European Parliament motions in April 2026 highlighted Russia’s systematic attempts to erase Ukraine’s history, culture, language and identity, and cited damage to over 1,700 cultural heritage sites and 2,500 cultural infrastructure sites.

At the same time, domestic pressure on LGBTI+ expression persisted. In February, Ukrainian singer MÉLOVIN’s concert in Rivne was cancelled after protesters opposed to same-sex marriage gathered outside the venue. The artist is known not only for his music but also for his stance on protecting the rights of LGBTI+ people. Organisers cited audience safety. Even amid war and Ukraine’s European integration efforts, conservative mobilisation can still restrict artists’ public visibility and performance.

Artists in Belarus continue to exist in the most repressive environments in Europe. PEN Belarus reported that in January–March 2026 at least 63 people out of 911 political prisoners in the country were cultural figures. Five representatives of the cultural field were forcibly expelled or deported from the country, and three cultural and educational institutions were liquidated by a ruling of the Minsk City Executive Committee.

Following the pattern of extreme sentencing of artists, in March, musician, producer and radio host Aleh Khamenka, leader of the folk-modern band Palac, was sentenced to three years in prison. This was for alleged “facilitation of extremist activities” over cooperation with Belarusian Radio Racyja, which reflects the regime’s continued use of “extremism” laws to criminalise independent cultural and media work.

Artists Face Retaliation for Public Dissent

Serbia’s anti-government protest movement increasingly spilled into the cultural sector during the first half of 2026. Artists and cultural workers who supported student-led protests reported dismissals, threats, censorship, media harassment and other forms of pressure. In May, the Community of Arts and Culture appealed for international solidarity, describing a climate in which cultural workers faced professional and personal consequences for expressing support for civic mobilisation.

The film sector became a particularly visible battleground. In February, nine leading Serbian film associations issued an open letter accusing authorities of a “coordinated campaign of state-sponsored censorship” and a “complete institutional blockade” of independent filmmaking. The organisations alleged that public funding calls had been frozen for more than 14 months despite available funds, while filmmakers critical of the government faced political interference, informal blacklists, exclusion from public support schemes and public attacks.

International concern also grew over the broader human rights situation. In May, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights warned of a deteriorating climate for dissent in Serbia, citing intimidation, harassment and reprisals against those expressing solidarity with protest movements. Against this backdrop, artists and cultural workers increasingly found themselves at the centre of wider struggles over freedom of expression and civic participation.

South Caucasus: ‘Foreign Influence’ Laws, Suppression of Protests and Contested Histories

Georgia became one of the region’s most alarming causes of concern. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights warned in April about the chilling effect of “foreign influence” laws on civil society, journalists and human rights defenders. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also documented violence against protesters, including artists, and restrictions on assembly, expression and civic activity.

Artists and cultural institutions in Georgia traditionally are at the forefront of civic protests. In the first half of the year, theatre communities and other artists in Batumi and Tbilisi were among those facing pressure and under wider attack. In May, internationally known opera singer      Paata Burchuladze was sentenced to seven years in prison over his role in October 2025 anti-government protests. The case turned a prominent artist into a symbol of Georgia’s broader crackdown on pro-democracy voices.

In Armenia, the controversy over Tigran Paskevichyan’s documentary Our Path to Independence that focuses on the period from the 1988 Karabakh movement to independence demonstrated how artistic work on national memory remains politically sensitive. A court initially barred screenings and distribution of the film, that had been commissioned by Public Television of Armenia. Public Television later released it on YouTube, ending the legal dispute but not the concern over institutional control of historical narratives.

In Azerbaijan, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly’s warning on the silencing of critical voices is especially relevant for artists working on memory, conflict and identity. Against the backdrop of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, restrictive laws on media, political parties and NGOs have constrained the space available to independent cultural actors.

One case from this period stands apart. On 15 June, Russian satirist Robert Kuzovkov, known as Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot dead in Biała Podlaska, Poland. Living in exile since 2021, he had continued producing works satirising Putin and other political figures. After two Belarusian suspects were released, police detained a man near Warsaw reportedly using forged Georgian documents and believed to be of Chechen origin.