For the first time in the recent history of Albania, extreme nationalism has political representation: the Red and Black Alliance. An interview with anthropologist Armanda Kodra
The appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet on the new Euro banknotes has been welcomed as a sign of trust of the European economic system in the Balkan Countries. It is Cyrillic, however, that underpins three ticklish controversies, in Serbia and Croatia
Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a bitter conflict. Dialogue between the sides is difficult, but some visits across the border are still happening. The story of an Azerbaijani journalist in Armenia
Erkin Koray is one of the greatest Turkish musicians. He has contributed not only to rock, but also to psychedelic, world music and prog. This has earned him the nickname of the Turkish Jimi Hendrix
A deep economic crisis and complicated regional scenario will seemingly not stop the incumbent, Serzh Sargsyan, to be elected for a new term as Armenian president
What principles should underpin Serbia's educational system from now to 2020? The answer lies in the Strategy for the Development of Education, recently adopted by the government. The document, however, does not appeal to many intellectuals denouncing it subjects education to nationalism and the market economy
In October 2012, the European Commission gave green light to Macedonia for the fourth time in a row to start the EU accession negotiations, still blocked by a Greek veto. But what is the real state of democracy in the country? Our correspondent takes us on a personal reflection on indicators rarely taken into account
In north-eastern Syria, a region with a Kurdish majority, the civil war becomes a clash between the Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish-Syrian separatists of the Democratic Union Party (PYD). A report by our correspondent from the Turkish-Syrian border
A huge project, madness for many: deviating the course of the Achelous River and have it flow into the Aegean instead of the Ionian Sea. Following the resistance of the Greek Council of State, the EU and the environmentalists, the project seemed to have been set aside for good. Now, aided by the crisis, it has come to be topical again
Alisa Ganieva, a Dagestani writer, is the author of "Salam, Dalgat". Active in the Russian literary scene, Ganieva tries to overcome mutual stereotyping between Russians and people from the North Caucasus. In her new novel, she imagines what would happen if the Caucasus suddenly separated from Russia. An interview
In 2012, José Barroso and Angela Merkel visited Moldova. These high-level visits raised hopes that Moldovan citizens will be granted visa-free travel in the EU by 2014. Still, a Russian proposal to include Moldova in its own customs union keeps public opinion divided in the country
She's not a hermit, though in other times she could have been. Her job is not in keeping with the times: she repairs the clocks in the Ottoman palaces. Şule Gürbüz is the only woman in the world to be an expert in mechanical clocks and author of two collections of stories which are small jewels of contemporary Turkish literature: Zamanin Farkinda (Aware of time, 2011) and Coskuyla Olmek (Die enthusiastically, 2012)
After ten years in power in Turkey, Erdoğan's AKP still has a reformist potential, but is becoming increasingly intolerant and confrontational. The issue, according to political commentator Mustafa Akyol, has more to do with the political tradition of authoritarian power in Turkey, than with the party's supposed “Islamic agenda”
It is a sub-genre of the more popular turbo folk - and certainly a more elaborate one. It is called folk-step. Two of its greatest representatives are Shazalakazoo, a Belgrade-based electronic music duo
Last month the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Baku. Amidst doubts on the choice of the host country, the distribution of reports on freedom of expression at the venue was blocked and the computers of assistants to vice-president of the EU commission Neelie Kroes were hacked
"Georgian Dream", the government coalition led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised to continue with Euro-Atlantic integration and, at the same time, get closer to Moscow. Yet, not everything seems to go as planned
With the acquittal at The Hague and Ramush Haradinaj's return on the political scene, in Kosovo there are open talks about a possible political alliance between the leader of AAK and current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci
