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
Proposed anti-gay propaganda legislation raises human rights concerns in Armenia, where violence against sexual minorities is supported by representatives of the institutions
Marching to Sarajevo to contribute to peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and promote popular diplomacy and non-violent interposition. This was the goal of over two thousand Italian and foreign pacifists who took part in "Mir Sada - Peace Now" in August 1993. One of our journalists participated
Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008 marked a change in Russia's approach towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the months preceding the war in Georgia in August 2008. Five years later, a short journey through this change in Moscow's official rhetoric
A young woman wrote to Osservatorio to denounce the treatment her Grandmother was subjected to in the Serbian healthcare facilities. Her letter tells of requests for money, humiliating treatment and working negligence
The “Gezi Park” protests enabled many to experience, often for the first time, the value of direct action and participation. A process that will have lasting consequences on the relationship between citizens and power. Our interview to professor Kerem Öktem
The state in Azerbaijan seems to be strictly in control of religious structures. Yet, many are turning to clerics deluded by social injustice and lack of acceptable forms of opposition
What are the Balkans? Reporter and writer Paolo Rumiz tries to answer the question abandoning himself to memories, writing “bastard notes, voices and frequencies that pierce borders, ignore visas, passports and languages to get right to the heart of man”
Jakob Finci, president of the Jewish community of Sarajevo, has been expecting for four years for the application of the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights that bears his name. An interview
A statement on Karabakh by the presidents of the mediator-countries hardly contained anything unexpected. But a 1 bln dollars arms deal between Russia and Azerbaijan was cause for concern in Yerevan
A month after the beginning of the protests, the 'bebolucija' already seems to have betrayed its original intentions. Low interest of citizenship, confusion of the protesters, weaknesses of the organization: the Bosnian spring is postponed to a date to be determined
In one of the most beautiful regions of Turkey in the Black Sea area, hundreds of hydroelectric power plants are expected to be built – or have already been. The local population feels threatened and fights for the right to the integrity of the ecosystem. A report
