All the news

Abdulah Sidran, the soul of Sarajevo

03/07/2012 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini

Sarajevo, 20 years after the siege. The famous Bosnian poet and writer talks about a city that for centuries has symbolized the encounter of faiths, nations, and cultures

Kosovo, where ideas bring value

28/06/2012 -  Veton Kasapolli Pristina

A Minister for marketing? Why not? Promoting the country's image is something a new generation of musicians, sports people and artists is already working on, awaiting politics also to take its course

The false myth of sustainability

20/06/2012 -  Risto Karajkov

The section on sustainability is a fundamental part of development project proposals. But why is it so important for the donor? And is it always necessary? A comment

The supreme command in the war in Bosnia

19/06/2012 -  Azra Nuhefendić

The role of partisan cinematography in Socialist Yugoslavia and what happened to two of its better known exponents – Bata Živojinović and Hajrudin Šiba Krvavac, hero and director respectively of the most famous Yugoslavian film in the world, “Valter defends Sarajevo”

Greece, much crisis for nothing

18/06/2012 -  Francesco Martino

Crises are painful, but they must be an opportunity for change. Yet in Greece, says economic analyst Janos Manolopoulos, this has not happened. Athens' political and economic leaders navigate at sight, unable to rethink the country's future

Taner Akçam: to talk about the genocide is good for Turkey

14/06/2012 -  Maria Elena Murdaca Ginevra

One of the first Turkish scholars to tackle the question of the Armenian genocide in an open and forthright manner, Taner Akçam thinks that overcoming the taboo of the genocide will also enable Turkey to strengthen its own role as a regional power

Macedonia: Is It Terrorism?

11/06/2012 -  Risto Karajkov Skopje

On 12 April, the murder of five people by lake Smiljkovo, at the outskirts of Skopje, struck Macedonia's ethnic cohesion. Five people are now in jail, accused of being part of an Islamic terrorist organization. Many questions, however, remain unanswered

Croatia on the Balkan migration route

07/06/2012 -  Francesca Rolandi

Croatia is on the so-called Balkan route of migration that runs from Serbia to the countries of the EU. How does the country, soon to become the 28th Member State of the Union, deal with migration issues? We have asked Julija Kranjec, expert in asylum and migration policy of the Centre for Peace Studies in Zagreb

The life choices of Chechen youth

01/06/2012 -  Majnat Kurbanova

There are young people in Chechnya who live in prosperity and rapidly pursue their careers. If they sing the praises of Putin and Kadyrov, that is. For all the others, life can be very difficult

The Bosnian Identity

01/06/2012 - 

A journey into the memory of Bosnia. Where suffering, hope and black humour outline a common Bosnian identity born, or perhaps only survived, from the ashes of the former Yugoslavia. A documentary film by Marco Bastianelli. The trailer

Small is Beautiful: Challenges facing Balkan NGOs

30/05/2012 -  Risto Karajkov

EU aid to Balkan civil society seems to be increasingly directed at large NGOs. Small community-based organisations tend to be marginalised mainly as a result of turnover thresholds and excessive red tape set by the donors. An opinion by Risto Karajkov, OBC's correspondent and free-lance civil society consultant

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