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Citizens and democracy threatened by SLAPPs: preview of the draft resolution

23/06/2021 -  Paola Rosà

The CASE coalition of which OBCT is part has received the text that will be presented to the European Parliament next Monday: a commitment to defend the rule of law and public participation, which collects many suggestions and proposals from civil society organisations

Georgia: the wounds of the dams

15/06/2021 -  Marilisa Lorusso

During 2020, the preparatory work began for what should be one of the most important infrastructure projects in Georgia's history: the Namakhvani dams. Local associations and communities report a tragic environmental impact and a significant safety risk

Violence against migrants in Croatia: Amnesty International denounces the silence of the EU

11/06/2021 -  Toni Gabrić

What is the attitude of Croatia and the European Union towards migrants and refugees trapped at the external borders of the EU? Massimo Moratti, deputy director of Amnesty International’s office for Europe, explains in detail

Slovenia: fuel to the fire

10/06/2021 -  Stefano Lusa Koper

With a shaky government and without a solid majority in parliament, Prime Minister Jansa keeps adding fuel to the fire, conceding nothing to allies and opponents

Kosovo: covid-19 and socio-economic impacts on women

10/06/2021 -  Nicasia Picciano

Pre-existing gender inequalities have intensified due to the current pandemic. Kosovo, like other countries worldwide, has not been spared

Bulgaria, dismantling the "Borisov system"

09/06/2021 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

Bulgaria is approaching new early elections – scheduled for 11 July – amidst scandals and twists, such as the sanctions imposed on six Bulgarian citizens by the US Treasury Department. An uncertain scenario, but one that suggests the political decline of ex-premier Boyko Borisov

Vaccines in Armenia: a struggling campaign

08/06/2021 -  Armine Avetysian Yerevan

Until a month ago, just a few thousand people had been vaccinated in Armenia. After a statement by Prime Minister Pashinyan, the campaign finally took off, but the issue remains highly divisive in the country

North Macedonia, recycling remains a mirage

04/06/2021 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

Despite some success stories, recycling remains at extremely low levels in North Macedonia. According to experts and observers, the country needs to quickly develop a waste management strategy

Croatia, an electoral turning point

01/06/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Last Sunday, the second round of the Croatian administrative elections took a radical turn: for the first time in the last twenty years, Zagreb will be led by a 40-year-old mayor, raised as an activist in the streets of the capital. Significant changes also in other cities

Heroes without borders

28/05/2021 -  Stefano Lusa Koper

In many territories on the border between Italy and Slovenia, a climate of integration had finally been reached, but the measures introduced to limit the pandemic have changed everything. Neither Rome nor Ljubljana worried that much, but some, with creativity, "took the field" in favour of the complexity, interests, and relationships of cross-border areas

Kanal Istanbul, Erdogan's dream of a new Bosphorus

25/05/2021 -  Filippo Cicciù Istanbul

Turkish President Erdogan seems ready to launch the "crazy" project of Kanal Istanbul – the artificial canal that should "double" the Bosphorus – despite concerns about the possible environmental and geopolitical impact. The report by our correspondent

Majorino: shared responsibility is needed on the rights of migrants

21/05/2021 -  Rossella Vignola

With the suspension of the Frontex budget and the launch of a parliamentary commission to shed light on alleged human rights violations in illegal pushbacks at European borders, the European Parliament affirms the political will to acknowledge the rights of migrants. We talked about it with MEP Pierfrancesco Majorino

Croatia: the plan for the future

20/05/2021 -  Toni Gabrić

Recently, the Croatian government presented a summary of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This document is crucial for obtaining 49,08 billion kuna (6,5 billion Euros) from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility to overcome the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and of earthquakes which hit Croatia last year

Castaldo: Western Balkans, the beating heart of the EU

19/05/2021 -  Paolo Bergamaschi

"The Western Balkans are not and must never be a defeated periphery of the West, but they are and must remain the beating heart of the present and future of the great European family". Interview with Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Vice President of the European Parliament

Slovenia: saving the STA

18/05/2021 -  Stefano Lusa Capodistria

Thirty years after its foundation, the future of the Slovenian News Agency is at risk. Janez Jansa's government has blocked state funding pending the delivery of a number of documents. For the agency, however, the request is an undue political interference

LGBT Croatia, two steps forward and one step back

14/05/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

A historic verdict by the Administrative Court of Zagreb grants same-sex couples the right to adopt. The progress, however, was immediately undermined by the Ministry of the Family, which announced an appeal

Inzko, the future of Bosnia and the Balkans

12/05/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagabria

According to Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country is at serious risk. The idea of ​​its "peaceful dissolution" would also begin to take hold in Brussels circles. For this reason, in his opinion, it is necessary for the EU to quickly change its approach with respect to the Balkans and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Albania: political parties are doing their own "journalism"

11/05/2021 -  Gentiola Madhi

In the recent electoral campaign for the political elections, the staff of the main political parties created their own editorial products, which were then often transmitted and published as they were, without journalistic mediation. Propaganda defeated information

In memory of Bayram Mammadov, a young man full of dreams

07/05/2021 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Istanbul

Bayram Mammadov was a young Azerbaijani activist who was unjustly imprisoned in 2016 and then released on presidential amnesty. Since 2020 he had been in Istanbul for his studies. On May 2 he was found dead in the Turkish city. His story

Armenia: the war in Nagorno Karabakh and assisted reproductive technology

05/05/2021 -  Armine Avetysian

In Armenia, mothers who lost a child in the recent war in Nagorno Karabakh will have access to a special assisted reproductive technology programme