In his contribution for the dossier “Abkhazia, twenty years after the war”, Francisco Martínez shares with Osservatorio's readers the materials he gathered in late 2010 while visiting the region, including video interviews in Gali, Sukhumi and Tbilisi
The Kosovo-Serbia deal is a victory for the civic notion of statehood and citizenship, avoiding further risks of ethnic partitions. Also, it is a remarkable success for the EU, and a reason to be optimistic about its future
This year, the Newroz celebrates the hope for a lasting peace that will put an end to the armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state. Abdullah Öcalan called to lay down the arms and begin a new era of political fight
ICG's latest report on Abkhazia is timely and its recommendations show the way forward. As usual, it provides a wealth of information and details. Yet, it is not without imprecisions
Law in Moldova mandates that children be vaccinated in order to be accepted into kindergarten. Many parents disagree. A law change is being proposed in parliament to make vaccination optional
The prestigious Venetian theatre has begun working with Emir Kusturica on the production of a theatrical version of Ivo Andrić's novel The Bridge on the Drina. The project is strongly contested by the associations of the victims in Višegrad, where the opera is due to go on stage June 28 2014
A documentary movie gives voice to the families of lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals in Turkey. “My child” is an intense work, gaining increasing attention. We met its director, Can Candan
There are more and more children living and working on the streets of Belgrade. The institutions are having a hard time dealing with the phenomenon. A temporary daycare center that has become a model for the whole region, the Svratište, recently risked shutting down
Armenians have followed closely the election of the new Pope, debating its possible consequences in the process of international recognition of the Genocide. In social networks, however, the event became an opportunity to discuss the role of the Church in modern society
A new law in Azerbaijan that introduces new fines on NGOs has entered into force. Top government representatives accuse local NGOs, western donors and the social media of radicalizing youth
Revelations on the sexual abuses by the Tuzla bishop - Karadžić and Mladić’s spiritual guide - have dragged the Serbian Orthodox church through one of the major scandals of the latest years. The victims’ declarations, the reconstruction by the Bosnian reporter who was able to get a hold of the records of the witnesses’ depositions
In the region of Leskovac, in Southern Serbia, growing peppers is an art refined over the centuries. The “ajvar” is a fragrant pepper paste that comes with soft cheeses and pork meat. Our report
Kosovo just appointed the new governor of its central bank. But Bedri Hamza is too close to the current government to guarantee the necessary independence. An analysis
In recent months, a number of incidents have taken tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan to very high levels. On the Azeri side, the rhetoric is more and more explicitly anti-Armenian and warlike, as clearly exemplified by the Safarov case and the story of writer Akram Aylisli. Yet, things have not always been such.
Zelenkovac is an eco-tourist village in the Bosnian mountains, not far from Banja Luka, hosting artists and travellers from all over the world. According to his founder, Boro Janković, its beauty has a mission
“Challenging Homophobia” is the title of the first European project for the protection and promotion of the rights of LGBT people in Kosovo.It was started to support a growing LGBT community, but has been intimidated by violent episodes tolerated by the institutions. Simon Maljevac from the organization Legebitra is one of the promoters of this initiative
Being a journalist in Albania is a difficult job. So tells us Axel Kronholm, a Finnish journalist who devoted his dissertation to press freedom in the country
A group of 162 American-Armenians on a journey form New York towards Armenia in 1949 stops in the port of war-torn Naples. Women and men who soon afterwards would be living in Stalin's USSR are astonished by the misery they see in post war Italy
Thanks to the mediation of Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for the Enlargement, the Social Democratic Macedonian opposition declined to boycott the local elections, scheduled for March 24. The institutional crisis is over, but the problems of democratic functioning of the institutions remain
