All the news

Eurovision, running scared when the music dies

22/05/2012 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

This week, Baku hosts the most expensive Eurovision song contest ever. The government sees it as a chance to boost its image abroad, while human rights activists see it as a unique chance to put in the spotlight the dire state of democracy in the country

Greece: Chrysi Avghi, the darkest side of the crisis

19/05/2012 -  Gilda Lyghounis

After the failure of negotiations for a new government, Greece is going back to the polls on June 17th. Many eyes are on the neo-Nazi movement Chrysi Avghi ("Golden Dawn"), that has taken advantage of the crisis and attracted consent with violent anti-migrant rhetoric, reawakening eery ghosts from the past. A portrait of the party and its leader, Nikos Michaloliakos

Good reasons to invest in Moldova

16/05/2012 -  Bernardo Venturi Chişinău

Valeriu Lazar, 40, Minister of the Economy and Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova since 2009, took office in the middle of the economic crisis and is one of the government's leading figures. In this interview, he talks about Moldova's response to the crisis, its model of development, and its investment opportunities

Shushi/Shusha, living in a symbol

15/05/2012 -  Elias Pinteri Shushi/Shusha

At the beginning of May 1992, in one of the hardest battles during the recent conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, the Armenians took the city of Shushi/Shusha. A portrait of the city 20 years later

Cyprus, the peace process: stranded

11/05/2012 -  Francesco Martino Nicosia

When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced on the 21st of April that the eagerly awaited international conference would not take place, the last hopes were shattered of seeing Cyprus take its turn in the EU presidency as a reunited Country. Not a surprise, certainly. Indeed, there is just a crumb of hope of seeing any evolution in the negotiations. A report from the island

The extinction of the Greek party dinosaurs?

10/05/2012 -  Takis Pappas

Do PASOK and New Democracy have a future after their crashing defeat in the recent elections? According to Takis Pappas, associate professor of comparative politics at the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, the two parties face a rather different political fate. From OpenDemocracy

Wine, passion and tradition in Eastern Herzegovina

03/05/2012 - 

In Eastern Herzegovina wine is the invisible and lasting tie with both the land and its generations. Today this heritage is preserved and promoted partly thanks to the careful work of the Trebinje-Erzegovina Slow Food convivium. A picture story with photos by Ivo Danchev and texts by Francesco Martino

Ergenekon: Ahmet Şık e Nedim Şener's truth

26/04/2012 -  Francesco Martino Nicosia

Known in Turkey for their investigations on the "deep state", Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener have been arrested in 2011, accused of being part of the"Ergenekon" terrorist organization, the same they contributed to expose. A case that soon became a symbol untransparent sides of the investigation. OBC met them in Cyprus, a few weeks after their release

Azerbaijan, seven sons and one daughter

24/04/2012 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

In Azerbajian, many more boys than girls are born every year. This is related to the widespread practice of sex-selective abortions, a phenomenon that is also occurs in neighbouring Armenia and Georgia. Stories from Baku

Serbia in turmoil over regionalisation

23/04/2012 -  Chiara Guglielmetti - Miguel Rodriguez

Big international agencies have paved the way with ad hoc funds, followed by institutional initiatives en route to EU integration. An overview of the process of regionalisation in Serbia

Kanta Ibragimov, the Chechen writer nominated for the Nobel Prize

17/04/2012 -  Majnat Kurbanova

For the second time, the Chechen writer Kanta Imbragimov has been included in the list of official nominees for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ibragimov has won prizes in Russia and the local government loves him. According to our correspondent Majnat Kurbanova, however, he has no talent. A tasty literary controversy

Turkey and its problems with the neighbours

16/04/2012 -  Fazıla Mat Istanbul

The motto of Turkey's foreign policy in recent years has been: “Zero problems with the neighbours”. But now the Syrian crisis is forcing Ankara to consider a possible military intervention to bring an end to the violence of Bashar al-Assad's regime

Bosnia, Slow Food. As humble and tenacious as a vine

12/04/2012 -  Francesco Martino Trebinje

Trebinje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Along the banks of the Trebišnjica river, in the Petrovo and Popovo Polje plains, vines grow surrounded by stony and lunar mountains. These vines give life to žilavka and vranac, two wines that have made the history and success of enology in Eastern Herzegovina. An age-old and fragile treasure of tastes, now promoted and safeguarded by the local Slow Food convivium

Okruženje, Yugosphere and its neighbourhood

10/04/2012 -  Luka Zanoni

There are not many parts of the world where a TV talk show can be produced without requiring dubbing or subtitles in order to be broadcast in 5 different countries. But in the Balkans this is possible. Vicinities is a first when it comes to talk shows with a regional approach. "But don't talk to me about Yugosphere" says Nenad Šebek, the show's host

That April in Sarajevo

05/04/2012 -  Azra Nuhefendić

Vivid and intense memories from the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo. Friends turning into enemies and loved ones leaving the city. Disbelief as the war starts tragically to unfold

Aleksey Gogua, a writer in Sukhumi

03/04/2012 -  Giorgio Comai Sukhumi

Aleksey Gogua is one of the most notable Abkhaz-language writers of the twenty-first century. During the Soviet era, his novels were translated into Russian and hundreds of thousands of copies were printed. Literature in Abkhazia today, relations with Russia, the situation of the Abkhaz language. An interview

Go Group Media: life as it is in the Caucasus, on film

29/03/2012 -  Giorgio Comai

The basic idea behind Go Group Media is simple: give a camera to people from all walks of life, living in isolated parts of the country, and tell them to make films about their lives or things that matter to them. The result is an amazing way to get to know the lives of people living in different parts of the Caucasus

A bullet for Suljagić, an award for Cerić

20/03/2012 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini

Religion, education, politics. Observations on some recent events in the Bosnian news, a few weeks before the activities scheduled to remind Europe and the world of the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo and the war in Bosnia Herzegovina

Independent Bosnia, twenty years on

19/03/2012 -  Michele Biava Sarajevo

In March 20 years ago, after the victory for the affirmative vote in a referendum abandoned by the majority of the Bosnian Serbs, Bosnia Herzegovina declared its independence. A month later the war began. Here are some observations of Jovan Divjak on the twenty-year period

Promoting Azerbaijan's polished face

15/03/2012 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Azerbaijan's authorities have intensified their efforts to improve the country's image abroad, hiring PR companies and lobbyists around Europe to burnish its image. Lavish business meetings and events ostensibly dedicated to culture are meant to boost the country's image abroad and make people forget about democratic shortcomings and human rights violations at home