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Final event in the travelling series Stories of the Border / Border Stories: this meeting, dedicated to presenting the investigations awarded in the international journalism prize of the same name, is promoted by Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and GECT GO / EZTS GO, with the support of Are We Europe.
During the fourth Border Stories event, held in Trieste on May 4th, the winners of the first edition of the Border Stories Prize. The Transformative Power of Dialogue were announced. More than sixty journalistic investigations submitted from across Europe were reviewed by the international jury composed of Marzio G. Mian (journalist and writer), Fausto Biloslavo (journalist and writer), Caterina Croce, and Teresa O’Connell.
Borders. Europe’s Laboratory is the closing event, featuring the presentation of the book Border Stories. Towards a New Horizon of European Coexistence, within the framework of èStoria – International History Festival.
With
Marzio G. Mian, writer and president of the Prize jury
Widad Tamimi, author and activist
Massimiliano Tarantino, Director of Fondazione G. Feltrinelli
The authors of the Prize-winning investigations will also take part in the discussion.
Martin Fornusek, “Spies, Migration and War: Ukraine’s Hungarians in a Transforming Borderland”
The investigation explores how Zakarpattia, the border region in western Ukraine hosting a significant Hungarian minority, has become a microcosm of Europe’s shifting borders, where war, migration and foreign influence intertwine, reshaping identities, loyalties and coexistence. Once a relatively quiet border area, Zakarpattia now embodies some of Europe’s most pressing questions: how communities negotiate belonging when borders are both porous and politicised, and how external powers exploit these ambiguities.
Lydia Emmanouilidou, “Migrants in Their Own Land: Climate Displacement at Europe’s External Borders”
When unprecedented floods devastated central Greece in 2023, entire villages were uprooted. With homes rendered uninhabitable, some residents were relocated not to permanent housing, but to a refugee reception centre originally built for asylum seekers. This investigation follows the inhabitants of Thessaly who, two years later, remain trapped in a condition of permanent temporariness, living alongside refugees yet separated by fences, security systems and administrative categories.
Andrada Lăutaru, “The Price of Clean Streets: How the Netherlands Deports Homeless Eastern Europeans”
Despite the dream of a borderless European Union embodied by the free movement principles of the Schengen Area, EU citizens can still be expelled from the countries hosting them. In the Netherlands, deportations of homeless European migrants — particularly from Poland and Romania — are increasing. The investigation examines the rise in deportations of homeless EU citizens from the Netherlands, questioning the legitimacy of these practices and analysing their social and legal implications.
Wouter van de Klippe, “Migrant Truckers Who Keep Europe Moving”
This investigation portrays the living and working conditions of migrant truck drivers travelling across Europe, caught between mobility and distance from home. The project documents the invisible role these workers play in European logistics chains, highlighting the tension between the concepts of distance and home. Each truck driver kept traces of personal identity and domestic life inside the cab, from small objects and toys to drawings made by their children.
Ana Curic, “Follow the Money: Why the EU, Not China, Matters Most to Serbia and Georgia”
This cross-border investigation reveals the true nature of the economic relationships between two EU candidate countries and China, Russia and the European Union. Drawing on a broad body of official data from banking reports and national statistical offices, the work examines trade and investment flows between these countries from 2013 to 2023. By analysing this extended timeframe, the investigation clearly demonstrates the central and dominant role of the European Union in both Serbia and Georgia, despite persistent narratives promoted by governments and pro-government media emphasising Chinese investments and shaping public opinion in ways not supported by the data.
