| And we’ve shared deeply reported European stories with the rest of the world, too. Our reporters have delved into the causes of, and possible solutions to, a housing crisis afflicting young people from Lisbon to Łódź and have reported extensively on the scourge of overtourism, as well as ideas to tackle it (go to fewer places, stay longer). Our new European culture editor Philip Oltermann has helped to share artistic gems across the language divide from the rise of a Serbian horror writer to a pioneering Czech documentarian, while new European sport correspondent Nick Ames has told vital stories outside the bubble of mainstream sports, from Ukrainian Olympians and Paralympians training against the odds to a football derby in Belgrade that offers a snapshot of local and global tensions.
European environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan has been an important addition to an environment team that has focused on the fatal impact of extreme heat and wildfires in Europe as well as an increasingly dangerous rightwing backlash to green policies. And Ashifa Kassam, our new European community affairs correspondent, has produced vital articles about people in countries such as France and Germany who are feeling the brunt of the rise in the far-right vote. Ashifa was often the first person to speak to many of these communities, from either local or international media.
Our expanded team of brilliant columnists, many from beyond the Anglosphere, have become essential reading, too. The likes of Fatma Aydemir, Rokhaya Diallo, María Ramírez and Nathalie Tocci are among those who have helped Guardian readers to understand the dramatic political, social and cultural challenges facing Europe. Our opinion writers have made strident interjections into important debates: from the grind of being LGBTQ+ in Giorgia Meloni’s Italy to the failures of the EU to recruit more people of colour. They have also been busy confounding national stereotypes: from the “Kafkaesque” hell of commuting on Germany’s failing train network to a Swedish parent lamenting being a “bad dad”.
Speaking to our writers about the impact Guardian Europe has made, they tell us that it has allowed them to chart new territories with a renewed effort and deep focus, to amplify voices that have previously gone unheard, and to share hundreds of good ideas about how to run a society. Miranda Bryant, hired as our new Nordic correspondent, looked at how sauna culture helps to make Finns so happy, while we also investigated how Ireland became the world’s literary powerhouse, why young people in Lithuania are so happy and how Vienna cracked housing to become the world’s most livable place.
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