All the news

Equality, you know what I mean?

04/12/2019 -  Valentina Vivona

Over the last twenty years, European directives have facilitated the creation of equality bodies. The majority of these institutions are still not very familiar to European citizens, but there are some exceptions in south-eastern countries

Greece: New Democracy pushes a tougher agenda on refugees

02/12/2019 -  Elvira Krithari Atene

After the victory in the last elections, New Democracy has given a new course to policies for migrants and refugees, which risks further weakening the protection mechanisms available to them

Romania’s 2019 presidential elections: the diaspora at the ballot box

26/11/2019 -  Giorgio Comai

At the latest Romanian presidential elections, almost one million Romanians voted from abroad, largely by casting their ballots in more than 800 polling stations open from Friday through Sunday. A visual exploration of the data

Insight: the Ukrainian Lgbt+ community

26/11/2019 -  Claudia Bettiol

It has operated for over ten years alongside Ukraine's LGBT+ community. A meeting with some Insight activists and their views on Ukrainian society and the slow progress on rights in post-Soviet Ukraine

2019: escape from the Balkans

25/11/2019 -  Francesca RolandiChristian Elia

A growing phenomenon with worrying implications: the flight of workers, skilled or otherwise, from former Yugoslavia. A look at the data and political responses.

Rijeka, when history goes public

21/11/2019 -  Marco Abram

Combining scientific research, dissemination, and participation; telling the story of Rijeka in multiple languages. These are the objectives of an international project of which OBCT is a partner, in view of Rijeka – European Capital of Culture 2020

The slogans of '89 have been appropriated by neonazis

21/11/2019 -  Paola Rosà

OBCT is among the founders of ECPMF, a media freedom centre based in Leipzig – just where the demonstrations that would lead to the collapse of the Wall started in October 1989. Thirty years later, one of the slogans of that revolutionary autumn has become an angry claim on the electoral posters of the far-right AfD party

Croatia, presidential elections coming up

19/11/2019 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

The elections for President of Croatia will be held on December 22nd, with the likely runoff scheduled on January 5th, 2020. The favourites are outgoing president Grabar-Kitarović and former prime minister and former leader of the Social Democrats Zoran Milanović

Chechnya, the strange case of Islam Kadyrov

13/11/2019 -  Marat Iliyasov

An unexpected tv report puts shame on Islam Kadyrov, a disgraced grandson of President Ramzan and former mayor of Grozny. The news quickly spread throughout the social media, leading users to guess what happened behind the curtains

End Violence Against Children: who has heard of INSPIRE strategies in South Eastern Europe and the Caucasus?

13/11/2019 -  Roxana TodeaCristina Rigman

According to the World Health Organisation, the seven INSPIRE strategies are the most effective in reducing violence against children. ChildPact and its members surveyed 296 child focused organisations and institutions across South-Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to find out who's working on the INSPIRE package

Political theatre in Kosovo: a fight on many fronts

12/11/2019 -  Valentina Vivona Lyon

An interview to playwright Jeton Neziraj on the power of political theatre, on Kosovo-Serbia relations, on the recent EU enlargement veto, and much more

Presidential elections in Romania: wet powders

08/11/2019 -  Francesco Magno

Unlike in the past, the presidential campaign for November 10th is particularly subdued. Outgoing president Klaus Iohannis, as the favourite, will probably take the most advantage from this state of affairs. An analysis

Strait of Otranto: Italy vetoes the proposed protected reserve

05/11/2019 -  Stefano Valentino

FAO is negotiating a series of new measures to reduce the devastating impact of trawling and make fishing in the Adriatic Sea sustainable. The institution of the Mediterranean's largest protected reserve was part of the package, but the Italian government has blocked it

Forests of Europe: a stormy future?

30/10/2019 -  Marco Ranocchiari

A year after the largest storm in Italy’s living memory, we try to measure its impact. This was no isolated incident – European forests are being hit more violently than ever

Croatia and Italy, the chilling effect of strategic lawsuits

29/10/2019 -  Paola RosàClaudia Pierobon

Forced to waste time, energy, and money to defend themselves against lawsuits that are unfounded in almost 90% of cases, journalists in Italy and Croatia are well aware of the SLAPP phenomenon (strategic lawsuit against public participation). Expert talks in Europe and a promising journalist's bill in Italy

Serbia: who profits from arms sales?

28/10/2019 -  Antonela Riha Belgrade

In the arms trafficking scandal recently exposed in Serbia, a state-owned company was allegedly damaged to the advantage of a private company that involved the father of the Minister of the Interior. The whistleblower ended up in jail

French "no" to UE negotiations causes early elections in North Macedonia

24/10/2019 -  Ilcho Cvetanoski Skopje

North Macedonia remains at the EU's door again, this time because of France's opposition. Disappointed with the "Macron" vote, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev tries to run for cover by calling for early elections

Political funding and external interference: limits on donations, transparency, and controls

23/10/2019 -  Giorgio Comai

In Italy, the abolition of public funding for politics has made political actors more dependent on private subjects and potentially more vulnerable to interference. It is therefore urgent to adjust the legislative framework and introduce measures that reduce these vulnerabilities and ensure actual transparency. Some reflections and concrete proposals

Budgets and donations, the great transparency bluff

21/10/2019 -  OpenPolis

The current rules to make political funding more transparent do not work. Unusable data and inaccessible information make transparency a bluff. From OpenPolis, a proposal on how to solve the problem

Croatia: retirement without peace

21/10/2019 -  Ana KuzmanićIvana Perić

More than 11,000 retired Croatian are still working. Some of them seek a more active life, but the majority lives on the brink of poverty without any other option other than to keep working – a problem in common with many other European countries