One year of Guardian Europe: different stories through a new lens

A year ago today we launched Guardian Europe, a new digital edition of the Guardian to help bring journalism about the world to Europe and journalism about Europe to the world.

It has been a dramatic year for the continent, with moments of intense political peril, from huge far-right electoral surges to extraordinary people power and progressive fightbacks. It has also been a year of sporting joy at the Paris Games and Euro 2024. We’ve been there to capture it all, and we’re very grateful that millions of you have joined us.

The history of Europe is enmeshed with the 203-year history of the Guardian, revolutions, wars and all. Soon after Britain left the European Union in 2020, I wrote to readers pledging that the Guardian would become even more European in its perspective, not less. The result of that renewed focus was the launch of a digital edition – our fifth, alongside our UK, US, Australia and international editions – powered by an expanded network of correspondents and commentators. Our hope was, and remains, to expand the number of people across Europe using Guardian journalism as their primary English-language global news source.

I’m delighted to report that Guardian Europe has been a resounding success. We’ve witnessed sustained growth in our audiences and deep levels of interest and engagement from readers old and new. The Guardian Europe front page has become our second most popular, behind the UK edition, and our European audience is our second most engaged overall. Single financial contributions from readers in Europe are up 45% and our supporter base has increased by 8%.

It’s been important to remember that our readers in Europe have a global perspective. They come to us for expert coverage of international affairs and to understand a complex world. This year, that has included the ongoing horror in the Middle East and the latest from the frontlines in Ukraine as well as the ceaseless anxiety-inducing drama of the US presidential election.

And we’ve shared deeply reported European stories with the rest of the world, too. As well as Lili Bayer’s daily live blog covering the biggest breaking stories across the continent, 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.

All of this coverage, from Europe and beyond, is powered by you, our readers. Quality global journalism is extremely difficult and expensive to produce and the economic conditions of the news industry are increasingly precarious. If you believe in the importance of independent, investigative and trustworthy reporting please consider joining us today.