All the news

EU and the Western Balkans, a long engagement

14/10/2020 -  Francesco Martino

Cautious optimism and a new package of economic incentives for the Western Balkans: with the "2020 enlargement package", the EU tries to relaunch the integration of the region, but the prospects remain of slow, never predictable progress

What will the Euro effect be in Croatia?

13/10/2020 -  Toni Gabrić

The most realistic date for the introduction of the Euro in Croatia is January 1st, 2024, but what does the introduction of the single currency entail? And what do Croatian economists think?

Greece, Golden Dawn is a criminal organisation

09/10/2020 -  Elvira Krithari Atene

With a historic sentence after five years of trial, the Athens Court of Appeal declared the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn - grown under the economic crisis and author of murders and attacks against persons and property - a criminal organisation

Nagorno Karabakh: the reasons for a war

07/10/2020 -  Giorgio Comai

The long-term reasons for the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh are well known. But what caused such an extensive military intervention as the one we are seeing these days, over 25 years after the ceasefire? And what can and should be done now? An analysis

To stand for peace, in spite of everything

05/10/2020 -  Bahruz Samadov

In Azerbaijan, trauma is a part of national identity. Today, it feeds the war and silences voices for peace. But would-be peacemakers, no matter how hard it is, must have compassion for and engage with this trauma while remaining true to their principles

We are a generation of war

01/10/2020 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Does loving one's homeland mean to support war? To shut up about the violation of human rights? To be silent on the sacrifice of dozens of human lives? A comment

Washington agreement, high expectations in Kosovo

01/10/2020 -  Arta Berisha Prishtina

Almost a month after the agreement signed by Kosovo and Serbia in the U.S., expectations are high on Kosovo's side. Prishtina's goal remains mutual, legally binding recognition

Investors: Georgia’s Nenskra Dam violates Svan rights

25/09/2020 -  Tamuna Chkareuli

For now, the EBRD and the EIB have suspended their financing for the construction of a dam in Georgia. Pending further assessments on the violation of the rights of the local Svan community

Administrative elections in Romania: Bucharest and beyond

23/09/2020 -  Francesco Magno

On 27 September the administrative elections will take place in Romania. All eyes are on Bucharest and the uncertain outcome between outgoing mayor Gabriela Firea, PSD, and Nicușor Dan from PNL. Yet, indications on the country's political future will also come from the peripheries

Jazz, the music of freedom surviving the USSR

18/09/2020 -  Sheyda Allahverdiyeva

Nothing would suggest a local jazz tradition in Azerbaijan. Yet it is a genre that has developed, from the 1920s onwards, despite the Soviet period and the difficulties of the transition

Azerbaijan: the Yagublu affair

14/09/2020 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Longtime political activist and member of Azerbaijan's oldest political party, Musavat, Tofig Yagublu has always been in the sights of the authorities. He was arrested at least 35 times and recently received his fourth sentence. Now he has decided to go on a hunger strike

Can the green transition help in solving fiscal and monetary divergencies in the EU?

10/09/2020 -  Petter Aspestrand

The COVID-19 pandemic may have opened a window of opportunity for the European Union to strengthen its fiscal cohesion and to put the climate transition on the right track

Greece and Turkey: machismo in the eastern Mediterranean

09/09/2020 -  Filippo Cicciù Istanbul

A clash with ancient roots, reactivated by the discovery of huge energy resources on the seabed: throughout the summer Turkey and Greece showed their muscles in the eastern Mediterranean. But is there an actual risk of an open conflict? An analysis

Milo Đukanović: the defeat of the last "king of Montenegro"

03/09/2020 -  Francesco Martino

After thirty years of uncontested rule, with the elections of Sunday 30 August, president of Montenegro Milo Đukanović lost control of the Podgorica parliament. The parable of "King Milo" and the reasons for the historic defeat of a leader as long-lived as controversial

Disinformation and anonymous portals in Bosnia

02/09/2020 -  Aleksandar Brezar

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are thousands of anonymous portals that pollute the web with disinformation. It is difficult to find solutions, except for media literacy. A comment

Ukraine: life in a minefield

01/09/2020 -  Claudia Bettiol Kiev

In Donbas, along the line of contact between the Ukrainian army and the separatists, there are hectares of mined territory. Securing it – once the conflict is over – will take more than half a century. A tragedy within a tragedy

Armenia: stranded in Thailand

27/08/2020 -  Armine Avetisyan

Pregnant, she was stuck with her partner for months in Thailand due to coronavirus. But she did not give up, and to raise the money for this forced stay she launched an online vegan restaurant. The story of Varda and her entrepreneurial initiative

Croatia, tourism first

26/08/2020 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Croatia managed to save the tourist season, which went reasonably well in July and August, but is paying with a record of coronavirus infections, while school is scheduled to reopen on 7 September - just not sure how

On (not) knowing the future: prediction, legitimation, and the Yugoslav crisis

19/08/2020 -  Jana Baćević

Why have social scientists failed to understand in advance the violent end of Yugoslavia? And what can all this teach us to interpret our present?

Journalists in Europe: one attack per day

18/08/2020 -  Paola Rosà

The data from the first four months of monitoring by the MFRR consortium confirm a concerning landscape for the safety of journalists and the state of media freedom, both in EU member countries and in countries as Serbia and Turkey