The end of Europe

2002-11-16

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