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On 9 April 1989, Soviet troops dispersed demonstrations in Tbilisi, killing 20 people. That event changed the political debate in Georgia and deeply influenced further developments in the two decades that followed, a period of great expectations and missed chances. An interview with Marina Muskhelishvili

Two thousand years ago, pirates held Julius Caesar captive on Farmakonisi, a big rock in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Today migrants land on the small, uninhabited island before transfer to the crowded Greek detention centres

The Balkan Trust for Democracy is approaching its 6th birthday. An overview of these years' work and challenges in an interview with Gordana Delić, Senior Program Manager

Domestic violence is a taboo topic in Azerbaijan. Every attempt to discuss issues that touch the private, family realm is perceived as a threat to the country's national identity

Berisha's proposal to legalise same-sex marriages caught everyone by surprise. Yet, the main motivation for the Albanian prime minister and other politicians in the region to engage with radical reforms in the field of civil rights may just be...getting Brussels to notice

Twelve months after the conflict in South Ossetia, tension in the border area is running high again. In reality, Tbilisi does not expect renewal of the hostilities, but there is concern about domestic politics. An article by our correspondent

While most of the countries in Eastern Europe were experiencing revolutions and violence meant to change the course of history, Yugoslavia was, in a way, just observing. One of the important voices during that time was the Association for Yugoslav Democratic Initiative

IPA for the Western Balkans: a buzzword and how to make it work. Expectations, precedents, and future challenges in an interview with Bulgarian expert Pavlina Nikolova

Both Russia and Georgia have devoted considerable efforts to promoting their own points of view on the conflict of August last year. Narratives remain strongly contrasting

Michael studies Indo-European languages. Gianni is Arbereshe and teaches Albanian at the Calabria University. Monica is the first in Italy to have obtained a PhD in Albanology. A group of linguists and a journey in Albania through words, stately peaks, and places of borders

A further take on corporations, responsibility, and the market in Romania. The strong focus on environment, funding mechanisms, and fashion in an interview with Dragos Bucurenci, founder of a specialised NGO

Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada have been recently detained in Azerbaijan because of apparently groundless accusations. Despite inquiries to the local authorities by foreign embassies in Baku, they are still being held in jail

Membership in the World Bank costs Kosovo greatly because it must pay its portion of the old Yugoslav debt. As outlined by the Ahtisaari plan, membership comes despite Kosovo not receiving any assets deriving from the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Belgrade's continuing politics to pay Kosovo's foreign debt, as part of Serbia's general debt, is breaking down

The European Commission proposed visa liberalization for Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro, which would bring an end to a costly and sometimes humiliating ritual for people who need to travel abroad. Kosovo, Bosnia and Albania, though, were excluded from the recommendation

Sensitivity on corporate social responsibility is embryonic in Romania as well as elsewhere. Trade unions are absent, institutions are fragile, and NGOs draw on the business sector for their fund-raising activity

The Republic of Moldova on 29 July will hold new parliamentary elections. Despite the opposition leaders' demand not to hold elections in the summer but to postpone them until the autumn, the communist authorities decided to organise the elections as soon as possible

Boyko Borisov, leader of the rightwing and winner of the recent national elections will be the next Bulgarian prime minister. But where does he come from and who is Borisov, known by everybody as "Brother Boyko"? The story of his rise to political power

Recent amendments to the law on NGOs in Azerbaijan have been milder than earlier expected. And while the local NGO community is relieved, there is some dissatisfaction and worry that the struggle is not over yet

Investigative journalism in Kosovo? Someone is trying, not without difficulties. The case of the TV programme "Jeta në Kosovë" and threats to journalist Jeta Xharra stir the debate within institutions and the public opinion

Belgrade is a city almost half of which built in an "informal way," that is to say, illegally. At the heart of this phenomenon that never seems to slow, despite efforts on the part of the authorities to thwart it, lie real estate speculation and a systemic incapacity to respond to the need for basic housing