Interviews

Promoting innovation in Albania: the role of academia

27/10/2022 -  Serena Epis

Innovation clusters that involve relevant stakeholders, from public authorities to the private sector and academia are key to reducing brain drain and promoting local development. We talked about it with Jolta Kacani, professor at the University of Tirana

Gaming in Serbia: unity is strength

27/10/2022 -  Francesco Martino

The gaming industry in Serbia is growing exponentially. More and more companies in the sector are growing thanks to mutual collaboration. We interviewed Kristina Janković Obućina, director of the Serbian Game Association

Bosnia and Herzegovina, experiments in deliberative democracy

01/10/2022 -  Serena Epis

An assembly of citizens in BiH has proposed a way out of the age-old problem of constitutional reform, pending for years after the Sejdic-Finci ruling of 2009. An interview with Nenad Stojanovic

Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the EFJ

01/07/2022 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Quickly resolving the economic issue relating to journalists, fighting harder against SLAPPs or gag complaints, using the rule of law to improve media conditions. These are the keywords of Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Eastern Europe: environment and transnational activism

28/06/2022 -  Luisa ChiodiSerena Epis

Through transnational political activism, social actors contribute to deepening democratic processes on a European level, also in the environmental sector. An interview with Aron Buzogány, professor for political science at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna

Cubans along the Balkan route: an interview

21/06/2022 -  Nicola Zordan

A little more than two months after an article on the journey of Cuban exiles to the EU, we return to the subject with the voices of those directly involved gathered in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a specific focus: the LGBT community

Bulgaria: the media, law, and freedom of information

16/05/2022 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

In Bulgaria, media freedom has traditionally been restricted by grey areas, and journalists often come under severe pressure. This interview with Nelly Ognyanova, a leading Bulgarian expert on media law, discusses the legislative factors that define the working framework of journalism in the country

Aggression of Ukraine, a war with no happy ending

06/05/2022 -  Francesco Brusa

Putin's invasion is also the result of the fragile balance that has been created in Europe after 1989. According to Paul D'Anieri, author of "Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War", it was a "highway to war". Our interview

"In corpore sano", Serbia's hymn to health for Eurosong in Turin

05/05/2022 -  Nicola Dotto Belgrade

"(Umetnica) mora biti zdrava" [(The artist) must be healthy] is the warning and call to everyone's responsibility on the subject of health launched by Serbian artist Konstrakta, who will perform on the stage of the next "Eurovision Song Contest" of Turin. We interviewed her

Media freedom in Croatia: the problem is not the laws, but their application

02/05/2022 -  Giovanni Vale

951 trials against journalists, claims for damages for 10.3 million Euros. Numbers that show how the media world in Croatia is under pressure. We talked about it with Vanja Juric, a lawyer specialising in freedom of expression

Imagining Europe

05/04/2022 -  Luisa Chiodi

Civic movements that go beyond national borders, populism, and the construction of the common European home. We talked about it with sociologist Paul Blokker, starting from what is happening with the "Conference on the Future of Europe"

A conversation on surveillance in journalism

22/03/2022 -  Dimitri BettoniFederico Caruso

From the Pegasus spyware investigation to mass surveillance: a dialogue with researcher Philip Di Salvo to understand the impact of new technologies for all those involved in journalism and beyond

Nadezhda Azhgikhina: “Let’s remember that journalism is a public good"

08/03/2022 -  EFJ

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) interviewed Nadezhda Azhgikhina, Russian journalist, director of PEN-Moscow, and former Vice-President of the EFJ. Her views on media in the ongoing war

Early childhood in Kosovo: learning from food

18/01/2022 -  Davide Sighele

Food is culture, memory but also chemistry, anthropology, mathematics. And kitchens can – and should – be the focus of the educational project of preschools. We interviewed Paola Cavazzoni, managing director of Pause Atelier dei Sapori, after her experience in Kosovo

Sharing knowledge to protect the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea

13/12/2021 -  Serena Epis

"Candidate countries for EU accession work really hard and they have the knowledge, but the experience of partner institutions from EU members is invaluable". When transnational networks help European integration. An interview

Boris Dezulovic: hopeless Croatia

18/11/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Thirty years ago, the siege of the city of Vukovar – one of the symbols of the war in the former Yugoslavia – ended. Boris Dezulovic, leading Croatian journalist, in a recent editorial that we translated, tries to highlight the profound contradictions of today's Vukovar. This, however, earnt him death threats. We interviewed him

Albania and post-Covid19: a look at rural life

12/11/2021 -  Gentiola Madhi

In a space suspended between the digital world and real life in the Covid-19 era, a young Albanian woman returns to her homeland to promote agricultural development, traditions, and equal opportunities in the rural sector

“VivaBiH”: vegans in Bosnia and Herzegovina

01/11/2021 -  Nicola Dotto

“VivaBiH” is the first registered organisation fighting for animal rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2016, through projects and media campaigns, it has pursued the complete abolition of systems that exploit any animal, promoting veganism. An interview

Media in Croatia, unprecedented censorship

27/09/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

The Zagreb court applied temporary and preventive censorship against the H-Alter portal and journalist Jelena Jindra, effectively banning the publication and writing of further articles on the Municipal Children and Youth Protection Polyclinic and its director. Toni Gabric, chief editor of H-Alter, explains this unprecedented decision

Slovenia, Croatia: barbed wire

24/09/2021 -  Giovanni Vale

"They ask me 'are you for or against immigration?', but the question makes no sense, there is no need to be for or against, immigration exists. Rather, you have to choose how to manage it". An interview with Tiha K. Gudac, director of the documentary «Žica», barbed wire

Serbia: the government's hypocritical dialogue with civil society

14/09/2021 -  Vukašin Obradović

"It makes no sense for civil society to spend time helping the state devise a strategy that will never be applied. In a country where the rule of law does not exist, there is no point in adopting new laws and strategies". A meeting with Maja Stojanovic, director of Građanske inicijative

Census in Croatia: certification of the population decline

13/09/2021 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

"Croatia is aging, this is the message that the census will give us. But this will not alarm the government which, like a firefighter, is just going to put out the fires". On the day of the start of the general census in Croatia, we interviewed demographer Marin Strmota

Montenegro, a justice free country

24/08/2021 -  Željko Pantelić

Interview with Milka Tadic Mijovic, one of Montenegro's leading journalists and president of the Center for Investigative Journalism, who has always been at the forefront of the fight for a better country and for the defence of freedom of expression

Selective abortion: in Montenegro is still alive

19/08/2021 -  Angela Perissinotto

Sex-selective abortion and son preference are still alive in Montenegro. We talked about that with Diana Dubrovska, a young Latvian anthropologist interested in sex, gender, and sexuality issues who is teaching at Riga Stradins University

Kosovo and early childhood: thinking with your hands

11/08/2021 -  Davide Sighele

Reusing recycled materials in early childhood education: the Creative Recycling Center of Reggio Emilia has recently proposed some workshops to educators from Kosovo. We talked about it with organisational coordinator Laura Pedroni

Serbia, fighting for the environment in fragile areas

30/07/2021 -  Eugenio Berra Belgrade

Environmental battles in peripheral areas in Serbia are little known and little studied. Activists and citizens encounter many difficulties in mobilising. Interview with social researchers Jelisaveta Petrovic and Jelena Pesic from the University of Belgrade

Montenegro, time for action

19/07/2021 -  Željko Pantelić

After a long experience in the NGO sector, Jovana Marovic decided to engage in politics with the URA movement. In this interview, she tells us about her choice and her vision on Montenegro's European integration path

Bodies in transition: interview with Alexandra Dejoli

25/06/2021 -  Veronica Tosetti

What did it mean to be transgender in Tito's Yugoslavia? And in today's Italy? An interview with the author of "Under the sign of the star"

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

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