All the news

Greece-Turkey, interwoven destinies

27/04/2011 -  Gilda Lyghounis

With the Lausanne Treaty (1923) that put an end to the armed conflict, Greece and Turkey started a epoch-making population exchange, destined to transform the two countries. Today, in a different political climate, the descendents of many 'Turks from Greece' search for their families' places of origin

Nani and the Russian tsars

22/04/2011 -  Majnat Kurbanova

Nani was an elderly woman. Every day she sat alone in the yard under the shade of a walnut tree, spinning and singing songs about the cruelty of the Russian tsars. She believed that the salvation of the Chechen people was in corn, while its damnation in the tsars and their soldiers.The twentieth century, seen through the eyes of a Chechen woman

Serbia, learning about cheeses

21/04/2011 -  Francesco Martino Pirot

The "pirotski kačkavalj" is much more than a mere cheese, it is the symbol of ancient traditions and an integrated economy that has shaped the Pirot region, in South Serbia, for centuries. A symbol currently at risk, due to emigration from the area and economic difficulties, but one which the students of the local "Mlekarska Škola" are trying to preserve

Ramzan Kadyrov, father of the nation

13/04/2011 -  Majnat Kurbanova

Ramzan Kadyrov recently inaugurated in Grozny his second term – no longer as president, but as Head of Chechnya. A journey into the extravagant life of a young “father of the nation”

Slovenia: the partisan's Euro

12/04/2011 -  Stefano Lusa Koper

The five point star has returned to European coins over twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Slovenia has just issued a million coins for two euro dedicated to a legendary partisan commander, Franc Rozman

Bazaar Rhythms

08/04/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

Cultural and ethnic crossroads and meeting place par excellence, the çarshija is also the place for finding some of the deepest roots of the Balkan musical heritage. Our inquiry

Armenia-Azerbaijan peacebuilding kicks off in Tekali

07/04/2011 -  Onnik Krikorian Tekali, Yerevan

Events held in rural Georgia hope to demonstrate how grassroots peacebuilding activities can not only contribute to discussion and debate, but also have some more immediate and practical dividends as well

Macedonia discovering a green economy

07/04/2011 -  Matteo Vittuari

Not much, but something is moving. In Macedonia organic agriculture is gaining ground. The legislative framework matches European standards and funds are growing. Yet, a lot remains to be done. The sixth part of our investigation into organic agriculture in South East Europe

Behind the wall

06/04/2011 -  Francesco Martino

In the Balkans the era of bloody conflicts is over. But instead of proceeding along the difficult path of dialogue, many are scrambling to raise walls to keep the "other" at a safe distance. And even the European Union doesn't seem immune from such temptations. A comment

Turkey, the new Ottomans

04/04/2011 -  Alberto Tetta

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) seized power in Turkey eight years ago, and is likely to win the next general elections, scheduled for 12 June. The political analyst Hamit Bozarslan shows us what in his view are the roots of the strength behind Erdogan's party

Romania, emigrants don't go home

25/03/2011 -  Cornel Ban

In the past years, for many Romanians (mainly from rural areas) emigration represented an opportunity for economic and social redemption. Today, the world economic crisis has changed people's perspectives, but going back to Romania does not look like a likely choice and the future is full of uncertainties

Georgia: inflation pushing farmers into debt trap

25/03/2011 -  Molly Corso

Hit by low harvest yields and double-digit inflation, hundreds of Georgia’s 700,000 small-scale farmers are confronting the start of the spring planting season without the money to purchase seeds. From EurasiaNet

Albania, the first time (with no visa)

22/03/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

A nervous look at the documents, searching for a Schengen visa. Then a smile. The visa is no longer needed. The first trip from Tirana to Rome after Albania obtained visa liberalization. A report

Gjakova/Đakovica: the çarshija streetlights

18/03/2011 -  Marjola Rukaj

Destroyed during the war, the old commercial heart of the town Gjakova/Đakovica, in western Kosovo, was rebuilt in 2001, thanks to international financial contributions. But, suffocated by its traffic, it's struggling to get back to being a “market on a human scale”, typical of the Ottoman period

Bosnia: international judges under scrutiny

15/03/2011 -  Eldina Pleho Sarajevo

Many international investigations on corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina have not produced results. Reasons for this include poorly evidenced allegations and limited knowledge of local law. The Bosnian experience was then transferred to Kosovo. Our study

Belgrade, 9 March 1991

14/03/2011 -  Danijela Nenadić Belgrade

Twenty years ago, in Belgrade, the first huge demonstration against Milošević’s regime. This date is the start of our dossier on the 20 years since the beginning of the war in Yugoslavia. The story of who was still a little girl then but who, for the first time on the 9th of March of 1991, demonstrated for a different Serbia

Mussa Khan. When roads do not end in Rome

11/03/2011 -  Paolo Martino Rome

They say all roads lead to Rome. Even that of Mussa Khan and the thousands of Afghan muhajirins for whom Italy is just a stop in the restless and tormented search for a better life. Among the building sites along the Ostiense Station stops the story of a journey that has no end

Azerbaijan: an anti-corruption campaign to prevent revolution

09/03/2011 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

March 11 is the day anti-government activists in Azerbaijan have set as a day of protest in a campaign that has been publicized online. The protests are planned despite the Azerbaijani government new anti-corruption campaign, launched in January in what seems to be Baku's most visible reaction to the revolutions sweeping the Arab world

Mussa Khan. An asylum roulette

07/03/2011 -  Paolo Martino Ancona

Ancona, Italy. Here is the “Europe” dreamed of by Mussa Khan. Here too, though, welcoming the muhajirins are metal fences and procedures that make applications for asylum a runaway and distant prospect

ICTY, Djordjevic handed 27-year sentence

03/03/2011 -  Rachel Irwin

Former Serbian police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic was convicted of all five counts against him at the Hague, including responsibility for the murder of more than 700 ethnic Albanian civilians during the late Nineties conflict in Kosovo. From IWPR