All the news

Bulgaria: Euro-Nomads

19/08/2010 -  Tanya Mangalakova Sofia

They make the most of electronic communication and low-cost flights. They live inbetween the “here” of their country of origin, and the “there” of the one they have chosen to work in. They use multiple identities. They are the “Euro-nomads”, a group on the constant rise, even in Bulgaria

Oil, Afghanistan and progress

17/08/2010 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

The United States’ willingness to overlook Azerbaijan's democratic and human rights records was revealed by the recent visit of Secretary of State Clinton to Azerbaijan’s capitol, Baku. Azerbaijan has become more important, not only as an oil and gas-rich country, but also for the transit of troops to Afghanistan

The Georgian television that speaks Russian

13/08/2010 -  Tengiz Ablotia Tbilisi

“Pervyj Kavkazskij” (First Caucasus). It is the name of the satellite channel in Russian, financed by the Georgian government and dedicated to all the people of the Caucasus, but not only. Transmission problems, lack of qualified reporters and the opposition of “Gazprom Media” do not seem to be enough to make Tbilisi back down

Israel trains in Romania, thinking about Teheran

11/08/2010 -  Mihaela Iordache

The military helicopter that crashed in Brasov is an incident that highlights the advanced status of Bucharest’s strategic relations with NATO, USA and Israel. After the crisis with Ankara, Tel Aviv seems to be looking for new stages for its aviation’s exercises. Experts believe the Carpathians can offer areas with characteristics similar to those of some regions in Iran

A true story from Chechnya: Milana

30/07/2010 -  Majnat Kurbanova

Milana used to breed nestlings. Then her village was bombed and she was forced to flee to Ingushetia with her nestlings. Had she let failures dishearten her, however, she would not have been a true Chechen businesswoman. Majnat Kurbanova tells her readers yet another true story from Chechnya

Leonard Orban: Deconstructing Europe

29/07/2010 -  Nikolai Yotov Bucarest

Between 2007 and 2010, Leonard Orban was Romania’s first European commissioner for multilingualism. OBC met him to discuss the present state of the European project and the challenges ahead: migrations, prejudices, enlargement and identity

ICJ and Kosovo, does the Court's Opinion resolve anything?

29/07/2010 -  Stefan Wolff

“I always tell my students that, when sitting an exam, they have to answer the question that has been set rather than one that they feel comfortable with.” Stefan Wolff comments on the main conclusions of the International Court of Justice's Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence

Serbia:The socialist orbit

20/07/2010 -  Petra Tadić Belgrade

A party in which everything (and nothing) has changed. It is the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), today the pillar of a pro-European government, yesterday Milošević’s political creature. At its helm is Ivica Dačić, the man who succeeded in bringing the socialists back to the center of the Serbian political system without explicitly disowning the legacy of the 90s

Seliger's many faces

19/07/2010 -  Giorgio Comai Seliger

Thousands of young people from all over the world took part in a camp organised by the Russian government. A portrait of today's Russia, a country looking for openness and international recognition, where development and innovation are strictly tied to the Putin-Medvedev governmental “tandem”. A reportage

Buying a house in Vladikavkaz

16/07/2010 -  Tamara Shanaeva Vladikavkaz

In North Ossetia, an increasing number of people are able to fulfil the dream of owning their own home. A deeper journey into Vladikavkaz's real-estate market winds through construction scandals, bank offers, new mansions, and Stalinist apartments

Kosovo: A hot summer in Mitrovica

13/07/2010 -  Tatjana Lazarević Mitrovica

In early July, a series of political incidents in Mitrovica resulted in a death and several injured people. After ten years of conflict over Serbian-controlled north Kosovo, the divided city of Mitrovica emerges again on the Kosovo and international political agenda

Turkey: Orientals? We already are

09/07/2010 -  Fazıla Mat

Has Turkey, tired of waiting for EU integration, turned away from the West? These are only speculations, the stakeholders state. Among Turkish public opinion, though, trust is decreasing. An in-depth examination of Turkish regional relations and its Union integration position

White Orphans, the enlargement's children

07/07/2010 -  Cristina Bezzi

Romania’s 350,000 “white orphans” have been left behind by one or both parents, who emigrated to search for jobs and resources to grant their children a better future. During the “Left Behind” conference in May 2010 in Milan, Italy the “Albero della Vita” association presented the results of their study of the problem

Macedonia: Media Freedom Under Threat

05/07/2010 -  Risto Karajkov Skopje

In Early June, the EU Commission had to remind the Macedonian government that freedom of expression and of the media are fundamental rights and the basis of democratic societies. The reaction followed that of the European Federation of Journalists, which condemned the “scandalous neglect” of the safety of journalists in the country

Nagorno Karabakh: talk of peace, but also of war

02/07/2010 -  Onnik Krikorian Yerevan

Panic reportedly began to spread last week in Yerevan as news of the worst major skirmish between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces on the line of contact in two years was reported by the local media. Ironically, the ceasefire violation occurred just one day after the Armenian president and his Azerbaijani counterpart met in St. Petersburg for talks convened by Russia

Bosnia Herzegovina: The land of rivers

01/07/2010 -  Eldina Pleho Sarajevo

Bosnia Herzegovina is rich in waters and has huge energy potential. The Bosnian Federation alone is planning the construction of 12 hydro-electric, thermal plants and wind mills during the next 10 years. Until now, the tenders carried out in this sector, however, have not been transparent

Business entrepreneurs, not terrorists

29/06/2010 -  Giorgio Comai

The Kremlin's new regional approach to the northern Caucasus, based on competition and economic development, includes young people as key actors. The strategy blends Soviet experiences with capitalist values

European patchwork

22/06/2010 -  Nicole CorritoreFrancesca Vanoni Sarajevo

Italian regions, south-eastern European local authorities, and Italian civil society organisations will combine their experiences in a three-year programme. SeeNet II – South-East Europe Network is the widest partnership of decentralised cooperation between Italy and the Balkans

Croatia: the sentence for Predrag Matvejević

22/06/2010 - 

The confirmation of a sentence. For having labelled “Our Taliban” those writers who, with their pens, waited on the Balkan wars. Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso expresses his solidarity to Predrag Matvejević and supports an appeal in his favour

Tanović: Changing Bosnia

18/06/2010 -  Eldina Pleho Sarajevo

Bosnian director Danis Tanović, winner of an Academy Award for his movie No man's land, is getting ready for the October elections with Naša Stranka, the party he founded only two years ago. To defeat the rubbish of history. Our interview