All the news

Rumiz and the Balkans. Bastard notes speaking to the heart of man

22/07/2013 -  Paolo Rumiz

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”

Sejdić-Finci, a judgment ignored

19/07/2013 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini

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

Karabakh, statements and arms deals

19/07/2013 -  Mikayel Zolyan Yerevan

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

Bebolucija: spring delayed

16/07/2013 -  Rodolfo Toè

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

Turkey, the race for water

05/07/2013 -  Fazıla Mat

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

Turkey after Taksim

03/07/2013 -  Dimitar Bechev*

During more than a decade in power, prime minister Recep Tayyp Erdoğan has implemented important reforms, yet he hasn't done enough to tackle the deepest flaw rooted in Turkey’s republican legacy: the authoritarian reflex built into the system of governance. "Turkey after Taksim", in Dimitar Bechev's comment for OBC

Ivo Josipović: the European Union is a symbol of peace

27/06/2013 -  Nicole Corritore Zagreb

Next July 1st, Croatia enters the European Union. A historic moment, a step away from the tragedies of the 90s and a hope for the future. We met and interviewed Croatian president Ivo Josipović

Romania: the children's emergency

26/06/2013 -  Cristina Bezzi

The migratory flow from Romania to other European countries has left behind hundreds of thousands of children, who are experiencing a “transnational childhood”. The phenomenon is particularly intense in the Romanian Moldova

Croatia, the new, "EU-indifferent" member

24/06/2013 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

On July 1st, Croatia becomes the 28th member of the EU. According to Professor Dejan Jović, adviser to president Ivo Josipović, while the country's political and economic elite celebrates, the public opinion shows indifference and does not hide some fear

Topovske Šupe: memory of the Holocaust at stake

19/06/2013 -  Federico Sicurella Belgrado

In Belgrade, the building that housed one of the first Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe will be razed to the ground. Its place will be taken by a shopping centre. The protests of the citizens

Does Turkey belong in the European Union?

19/06/2013 - 

Ten days ago we asked two experts, Joost Lagendijk and Renate Sommer, to start our online debate on the issue of Turkish integration in the EU. The revolt which started in the same period in Turkey seems now to open new political and social scenarios. Today we publish the final papers of our experts and invite readers to express their opinion

Musical Dialects of the South Caucasus

19/06/2013 -  Onnik Krikorian Tbilisi

Funded by a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, three students from the United States and Gibraltar are researching and recording traditional music in the South Caucasus to make it available online

Does Turkey belong in the European Union?

14/06/2013 - 

We arrived at the halfway point of our online debate on Turkey and Europe. Fazıla Mat sums up the situation and argues that Europe should be seen as something more than a financial market. Go to the live-debate

Turkey-Azerbaijan: from #occupygezi to #occupyfountainsquare?

11/06/2013 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

What impact have the protests in Turkey on neighboring countries? Azerbaijan certainly can not give lessons in democracy, and yet ...

Albanians and Serbs: a common epic

31/05/2013 -  Marjola Rukaj

Epic songs of the Balkans have often been key in the construction of controversial nationalist ideas. In fact, they sing a common history

The Bosnian Garden of Delights

30/05/2013 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini Venezia

For the first time in 10 years, Bosnia and Herzegovina will take part to the Venice Biennale with its own national Pavilion. Mladen Miljanović is the artist who will represent the country

The Chișinău center for Eastern border migrants

27/05/2013 -  Bernardo Venturi Chișinău

The Moldovan capital Chișinău has its own center for migrants, to reject them before they even get to the European Union. We paid a visit

A Memorial on the Diamond Road

27/05/2013 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini Gornji Vakuf

Friends and family members have placed a memorial stone on the site where three Italian pacifists, Guido Puletti, Sergio Lana and Fabio Moreni, were murdered on May 29 twenty years ago while carrying aid to the Bosnian population

The Trabzon wisdom

27/05/2013 -  Fabrizio Polacco

Trabzon is a millennial hub of trade and passage. Within its maze of streets stands the church of Aghia Sophia, whose fate is currently at stake as that of its more famous namesake in Istanbul

Has Eulex changed its policy?

27/05/2013 -  Andrea Lorenzo Capussela

Organ trafficking in Kosovo: the Marty report, the Medicus case and the first convictions. Some open questions on the Eulex conduct