All the news

Mostar's divers

07/01/2021 -  Veronica Tosetti

Starting from those moments of precipitous flight towards the Neretva, the first long feature directed by Daniele Babbo shows both the love for a city and how hard it is to live in it. An interview

"One Coin", story of the cryptocurrency that deceived the world

29/12/2020 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

Bulgarian entrepreneur Ruja Ignatova wanted to "bury BitCoin" and created a new cryptocurrency that was to change the world: "OneCoin". Behind her sparkling dream, however, there was a scam for four billion dollars, which disappeared along with Ignatova herself

Exclusion by Public Discourse: Media representations of Syrian Refugees in Turkey

28/12/2020 -  Fazıla Mat

There are two main discourses about Syrian refugees in Turkey's media: they are depicted either as "guests to help" - thus implicating moral superiority over Europe - or as a "threat", highlighting their otherness from the country's socio-cultural identity. Either way, disinformation is everywhere

Environment in Southeast Europe: lockdown abuses

23/12/2020 -  Marco Ranocchiari

As the eyes of the whole world are fixed on the pandemic, vigilance over environmental abuse is loosening. A study by the NGO Arnika documents the situation between Central-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Balkans

North Macedonia: census yes, census no

23/12/2020 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

2021 for North Macedonia should be the year of the new general census, after the failure of 2011. However, many issues remain unresolved: the inclusion of emigrants and the delicate topic of ethnic balance are of particular concern

EU takes its best action against foreign interference when tackling the big issues

22/12/2020 -  Giorgio Comai

A swirl of new acts and strategies has been announced in the last couple of weeks by the European Commission, including the European Democracy Action Plan, the Digital Markets Act, and the EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy. If we ask the right questions about foreign interference, these are all part of the answer

"The Russians": the theme of Russian interference in TV series

17/12/2020 -  Irene Dioli

In recent years, Russia has been increasingly present in the West's hearts, minds, and debates, including in cultural production. Here we talk about three famous television series that brought the theme of Russian interference in the political life of Western countries onto the small screen

EU, Russia, and the tug-of-war on disinformation

15/12/2020 -  Elisa Piras

With the growing concerns about disinformation activities by Russia and China, the EU and - to varying degress - individual countries have shown increasing interest and initiative in the area of propaganda and strategic communication

EU-Balkans: more glue for this house of cards

14/12/2020 -  Benedetta Arrighini

We need a new approach to enlargement policies, lest their complete failure. And it is necessary to start afresh from the abolition of unanimous voting. An interview with Srdjan Cvijić, author together with Adnan Ćerimagić of "Rebuilding Our House Of Cards: With More Glue"

Addressing the challenges posed by disinformation in the Western Balkans

14/12/2020 - 

More than 100 participants, representatives of regional organisations, governmental institutions and media have gathered for a two-day online conference on 11-12 November 2020 co-organised jointly by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) in order to discuss challenges posed by disinformation in the Western Balkans. The final statement by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)

Habitats, species, ecosystems: the state of nature in south-east Europe

10/12/2020 -  Pietro Stefani

The latest report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) paints a grave picture of the EU’s environmental situation, which requires urgent attention from member states if current trends are to be reversed. A look at south-east Europe

Cybersecurity, technology, and democracy: what should be done?

10/12/2020 -  Giorgio Comai

In Italy, similarly to other European countries, there is basically no structured initiative aimed at increasing the cybersecurity of the key actors of our democratic system. New measures are needed that do not entail increasing dependence on a small number of tech companies: cybersecurity in politics cannot exist independently of politics

Bulgaria, chronicle of a lockdown foretold

09/12/2020 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

After a relatively calm first phase, Bulgaria is now facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, to such an extent that the country now tops both the European and global rankings for covid-related deaths. After controversies and indecision, the government is now set to introduce new measures

Online ads know you well

09/12/2020 -  Federico Caruso

Online advertising is based on the collection and sharing of user data, a system which rests mostly in a few powerful hands, including Google. Privacy and data protection are at issue, and Europe is debating what action should be taken

COVID-19 has paralysed mental health care in Europe

03/12/2020 -  Ángela Bernardo María Álvarez del Vayo Carmen Torrecillas

Mental health resources in the European Union were scarce even before the pandemic. COVID-19 has caused a tsunami in mental health, from Spain to Romania, and access to care is more difficult today. An investigation by EDJNet, coming out on many European news outlets

Covid-19: the pandemic is testing the Balkan countries' education systems

03/12/2020 -  Gentiola MadhiFrancesco Trupia

Poor investments, politicisation, little regard for teachers: the pandemic has exacerbated the structural limits of school systems in the Balkans. The case of Kosovo

Bulgaria – North Macedonia, a short-sighted veto on the road to the EU

25/11/2020 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

With the veto on the opening of negotiations for North Macedonia's accession to the EU, the Bulgarian government plays the nationalist card, above all for contingent reasons of domestic politics. The consequences, however, are likely to be heavy in the medium and long term

The face of a traitor

23/11/2020 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Hatred, bullying, threats and insults. Our correspondent Arzu Geybullayeva has been exposed to a repeated series of social media attacks in recent weeks. The reason is simple, she decided to take side for peace during the recent war in Nagorno Karabakh

North Macedonia, inflated administration and ethnic balance

20/11/2020 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

In North Macedonia, institutions guarantee ethnic quotas in the administration: a principle that has also had negative repercussions, inflating the number of employees in the public sector, who often do not even go to work

The elections of 1990, the year zero of Bosnian ethnocracy

19/11/2020 -  Alfredo Sasso

There is one case in which inter-nationalist cooperation manifested in an electoral process: that of Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 18th, 1990. The first multi-party elections after the socialist era saw the triumph of the three parties on an ethnic basis