Radio Bridge 2023
Bratislava

Radiobrücke 2023 Bratislava © RadioEins © Goethe-Institut

How has the war in Ukraine changed life in Slovakia and the relationship with Russia? What is the country discussing shortly before the parliamentary elections? And what is life like in Bratislava? To explore these questions, radioeins and rbbKultur are jointly building a radio bridge to the Slovakian capital Bratislava.

From 25 to 28 September, the two rbb radio programmes broadcasted live daily from the Goethe-Institut in the Slovakian capital, with guests from politics and culture, interviews, reports and musical events.

One focus of the radio bridge was the parliamentary elections on the 30th of September: In recent years, accusations of corruption, political influence on the press and the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée have made international headlines. Between right-wing and left-wing populism, European values and pro-Russian politics, environmental protection and the international car industry, many parties have emerged in Slovakia. Which issues were most important to Slovaks shortly before the National Council elections? The presenters from radioeins and rbbKultur Meili Scheidemann, Maximilian Ulrich, Julia Riedhammer and Andrea Handels talked about this live at the Goethe-Institut with many guests.

This year, the Radiobrücke seeked again connections between Berlin/Brandenburg and Slovakia/Bratislava: How hard is it to find a flat in the Slovakian cultural metropolis? What is civil society doing against attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and disinformation campaigns on the net? How digital is Bratislava? This the rbb reporters Amelie Ernst, Sören Hinze and Katja Weber found out and explored the city in the process.

Of course, music from the Slovakian capital was the soundtrack of the Radio Bridge: Bratislava and Berlin are only a day's journey apart, but the music scene there is hardly known here. Is it Balkan beats that people party and dance to? Or rather international chart hits? While radioeins explored the pop cosmos of Bratislava, rbbKultur followed in the footsteps of Mozart, Liszt, Beethoven and Haydn in the music city of Bratislava.