The EU Summit is expected to take a final decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, although France seems unwilling to change its position to postpone the decision-making process until the European negotiation format is re-arranged
After years of discussions, the EU has not opened negotiations to enlarge to Albania and North Macedonia yet, chiefly because of French opposition. Will this week's European Council finally mark a breakthrough for the accession process?
After years of opposition and activism, Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti, winner of the October 6th elections, is about to become the new prime minister of Kosovo. For the country, a political turnaround not without unknowns
Bulgaria is experiencing massive flows of emigration. Yet, not everyone goes away for the same reason, or moves to another EU country with the same life plans
The Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala is in jail for more than 700 days. He's accused of trying to overthrow the government and to have financed the Gezi Park protests in 2013. However, there is no convincing evidence against him
In Azerbaijan, a pro-government website published a report evaluating the reforms introduced by President Aliyev at the beginning of the year. However, a careful analysis shows that behind the facade of reforms the country continues as usual: corruption and violation of human rights
With the new season just around the corner, Albanian television schedules change, but the media landscape remains unchanged, with increasing hints of pressure and censorship cases
The mayors elected in the ranks of pro-Kurdish HDP have been ousted by the Turkish government on charges of flanking terrorism, further reducing the space for a political solution to the Kurdish question
Three years after its first edition, the impression that emerges from the Media Days – an event promoted by the EU Commission in the Balkans – is that of a telenovela with a predictable ending, where the characters move within a well-defined perimeter. But the region's media need more
Ohrid and its lake represent an exceptional heritage of art, history, architecture, and nature, part of the World Heritage List since 1979. However, due to illegal construction and pollution, it may end up in the list of endangered locations
Bulgaria confirms its structural problems in the field of press freedom. This time, the scandal is the attempted removal from the public radio (BNR) of an inconvenient journalist, followed by a mysterious obscuring of the repeaters
While Croatia may be a paradise for tourism, actually living and working there is a lot more difficult. Croatian workers move abroad in large numbers: a phenomenon rooted in a combination of both long-term and short-term factors. An analysis
For three days our partners of ECPMF joined 7 other freedom of expression organisations on a joint mission to Turkey, led by the International Press Insitute. Despite some glimmers of hope, press freedom in the country remains in crisis. Here the final statement, released on 13th September
Less than two months after acquittal in the first instance, two journalists and an activist find themselves accused of "terrorist propaganda": Erol Önderoğlu, Ahmet Nesin, and Şebnem Korur Fincancı will have to face the appeal trial
Minatory writings on walls, physical attacks, and threats. Reporters Without Borders expresses deep concern for what it sees as a real attack against journalists in Croatia
On July 25th, 1992, 150 civilians were killed in the Bosniak village of Zecovi, a few kilometres from Prijedor. Among them 29 relatives of Fikret Bačić, who returned to Bosnia at the end of the war to search for their bodies and bring those responsible to trial. On the day of the commemoration of the massacre, we collected his testimony
Huge participation, no accidents, visibly moved participants. And from the stage, the first Pride of Sarajevo is dedicated to all the oppressed of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In 2008, the first LGBT public initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered a harsh aggression which caused 15 injured and the cancellation of the event. On September 8th, the opportunity is coming to overcome this trauma, with the country's first Pride
