Highlight

Danilo

On the 15th of October 1989 Danilo Kiš (1935-1989), the last great Yugoslav writer, died in Paris. We rembered him with a comment by the bosnian writer Božidar Stanišić: "Kiš's work has survived the hyper-production of pseudo-literature, it belongs to the library of the world, it has resisted the most terrible challenges of the 21st century, especially the relativisation of the concept of art and the dominance of technology and social media."

Can data journalism bring about new ways of reporting on European affairs? Almost two years have passed since our programme EDJNet kicked off. It is high time to take stock of what has been achieved and of what can be improved. Our online survey aims to assess ways to make the coverage of European issues more straightforward, more compelling and – above all – more data driven. Take part!

Can data journalism bring about new ways of reporting on European affairs? Almost two years have passed since our programme EDJNet kicked off. It is high time to take stock of what has been achieved and of what can be improved. Our online survey aims to assess ways to make the coverage of European issues more straightforward, more compelling and – above all – more data driven. Take part!

Limitations

A recent sentence of the Supreme Court of Holland ruled that the Dutch state had "a very limited responsibility" in Srebrenica in ‘95 for the death of about 350 Bosnian Muslim men. The decision put a significant limitation on the civil responsability of the accused and of the compensation, arising disappointment and anger among the victims' associations.

If you are in your thirties like Karin, Anna and Karen, you could be subject to serious limitations on getting access to the labour market in Armenia. A new and more comprehensive law is now expected to put an end to discrimination on grounds of age.

Last June the European Council’s decision to postpone the opening of EU accession talks of Albania and North Macedonia provoked strong limitations on the hopes of the two countries to start the negotiations soon. For the other Balkan countries, the situation isn’t much more encouraging.

Advocacy Action: OBC Transeuropa and other 19 human rights and freedom of expression organizations co-signed a statement criticizing the interim judicial decision taken on the Gezi Park case, defined “an act of intimidation”

A report by SETA, a Turkish government-linked think tank, accuses leading international media of being biased against the government and singles out their correspondents for attack. OBCT and other 20 international human rights and freedom of expression organisations condemn this new form of harassment of journalists in Turkey.

European elections

We have always tried to give our work a strong European imprint. In 2000, when we started publishing on these electronic pages, none of the countries we followed was part of the EU. The enlargement process radically changed the situation, yet a group of Balkan countries are still out.

From the beginning we thought that the response to the tragic events that took place in the Balkans in the 1990s was European integration – both on an institutional and on a grassroots level. And for the same reason we followed these European elections with attention, bust most of all with emotion.

During the past weeks we curated a voluminous dossier where you may find, for instance, the reasons why Gresa Hasa, a young Albanian activist, feels perfectly European; our correspondents' analysis of the vote, a postcard that we invite you to sign for the Adriatic to become an European sea and, lastly, thanks to our EDJNet project, all the "numbers" of the European elections, country by country. Enjoy your reading!

Press Freedom

Today is the World Press Freedom Day. It's one of the topics we follow the most closely: we've recently launched a new project, ESVEI, addressing the structural issues that in recent years have increased the vulnerability of democratic processes to external interference. Fazıla Mat writes about disinformation, technology giants and our critical skills.

Pressure

Serbian government developed a complex system that sees the participation of various subjects to exert pressure on media not aligned with power. Our Belgrade correspondent Dragan Janjić is also among the targets.

In Turkey, hundreds of Kurdish prisoners are on hunger strike to protest against the isolation of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Despite their serious conditions and seven suicides their attempt to put pressure on the government today seems to be at a dead end.

Mothers

Hatidze is the last honey hunter from North Macedonia – an ancient trade based on a delicate balance with mother nature. The "Honeyland" documentary, awarded three times at the Sundance Film Festival, tells her incredible story.

Since 1995 “Saturday mothers” together with the relatives of numerous "desaparecidos", who disappeared during the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, ask for justice and truth in Galatasaray Square. Last summer sit-ins were banned, but their struggle continues.

Women

They live in a highly patriarchal society. Yet, with courage and resoluteness, they are building their present and a more right future for themselves and their children. Meet Shaqe, File, Engjellushe and many other women living in northern Albania. Together with RTM and Albania News we told their stories in a short documentary.

Anna, Maria, and many others have other stories to tell. In Greece, thousands of migrant women work as domestic helpers and carers. They face a difficult life, suspended between legality and informal sector, country of origin and destination, pride and regret.

Very soon Chechen women will be able to take taxis driven by women and only for women. The initiative sponsored by an Arab investment fund has caused very different reactions. Is it just another step in Chechnya's progressive Islamisation?

Slack chat! "Covering European issues with data", Friday 22 April 2019, 6PM CET. The chat is jointly organised by the Data Journalism Awards and the European Data Journalism Network. Giorgio Comai from OBCT will be one of the speakers. To follow and join the chat you need to register here