According to the National Anti-Mafia Directorate – an organ of the Italian State's General Attorney for the fight against organized crime, the Albanian mafia has gained a leading role in Italy's drug market
The Council of Europe against Republika Srpska. Strasbourg reports serious offences committed by the police in Banja Luka, allegedly guilty of crimes that qualify as torture
A keyboard player in one of the major Macedonian punk rock bands of the 80's, Badmingtons, is now promoting a unique project and a national brand: the Macedonian Ruby. The story of Dejan Škartov, better-known in Skopje as Deko
According to the Italian police, in Albania there are hundreds of marijuana plantations for export. One of the most renowned production centers is the village of Lazarat, where cultivation is an important support to the farmers' income
The first Bosnian census since the fall of Yugoslavia has begun in a pre election climate. The survey will show, 20 years after the war and ethnic cleansing, what the new Bosnia is
The girl that runs. It is the title of a famous photo by Mario Boccia, Italian photojournalist, snapped on September 30th, 1993. A day like any other in Sarajevo, under siege for 17 months, between bombings and snipers. Twenty years later, Mario tells the story
A Customs Union with Russia, Belorus and Kazakhstan turns Yerevan away from signing an Association Agreement with Brussels. While the Armenian public opinion is divided, civil society activists have been intimdated
The Presidential elections in Azerbaijan will take place on October 9th. Nine candidates will challenge the current President, Ilham Aliyev. Polls show a will for change, but few believe it will be possible
Is it possible to build a shared narrative of the Balkans, overcoming the conflicts between national historiographies? The travelling exhibition "Imagining the Balkans", these days in Belgrade, tries to do so
The website and informatics services of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso are under a DdoS attack since 16 August. The raids have reached our server causing dysfunctions. In the last few days, the attacks have increased
Truck drivers sealed off the border after a rapid escalation in trade restrictions between Macedonia and Kosovo. The situation quickly came back to normal, but not without consequences
Hundreds of Syrian refugees have crossed the Bulgarian border fleeing the war. About 500 have been placed in the transit center of Pastrogor, near the border with Greece and Turkey. Our report
A promenade in Baku's museal system starts at the Haydar Aliyev Center and continues through concrete and futuristic designs. Building the new, however, does not imply maintaining the old
Though certainly more funky and jazzy in their arrangements than their great-grandparents, Fanfara Tirana have in fact revived brass tradition in Albania. And they made it out in the world thanks to a collaboration with Transglobal
In 1970, students Cvjetko and Pavle leave Belgrade to hitchhike their way to the Isle of Wight. An unexpected encounter is awaiting them in France. Back when the word Yugoslavia still opened the doors to Europe
Where Oedipus killed his father Laius, the roads from Thebes, Delphi and Daulis meet. At that abandoned crossroads, in a Greece overwhelmed by an economic crisis, today Europe may find its way again
In Belgrade the second edition of the queer studies course just ended. It discussed unconventional perspectives, marginal identities, and emancipatory practices. Osservatorio met with philosopher and activist Dušan Maljkovic, coordinator of the course
Last July, the wife of a judge from Osijek was subjected to forced hospitalization, for no apparent reason. The dramatic case has raised the attention of the public and the media on the abuse of psychiatry in Croatia
Wrestling could be banned from the 2020 Olympic Games program. The entire family of the Balkan, Caucasian, and Central Asian states has teamed up against the decision
