Conflicts

Nagorno Karabakh, dissolution and new challenges ahead

05/10/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

Last week, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh flooded into Armenia while the de facto authorities dissolved the entity, effective at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, the displaced face the challenges of integration into Armenia and, for some, a possible return to Azerbaijan

Fleeing from Nagorno Karabakh

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a military attack in Nagorno-Karabakh, changing the fate of thousands of people in just a few hours. Over 80 thousand people have already left the region. From our correspondent in Yerevan, Armine Avetisyan, some shots from one of the registration centre to enter Armenia

Karabakh: following ceasefire, Armenia and Azerbaijan prepare for talks

27/09/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

Following the 20 September ceasefire agreement between Baku and the de facto authorities of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), now Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev are expected to meet for talks that will also involve France, Germany, and the European Council

Karabakh agrees to integration talks with Azerbaijan

20/09/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

Following a landmine incident on its territory, and with multiple negotiating tracks under increasing risk of collapse, Azerbaijan appears to have wrestled back control of its breakaway Karabakh region

De facto Karabakh President resigns, replacement appointed

12/09/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

The resignation of Arayik Harutyunyan and the change of leadership in Nagorno Karabakh open a new phase of uncertainty in the region and for the future of relations between Karabakh and Azerbaijan

Ukraine's wildfires surge amidst war

07/08/2023 -  Marilen Martin

Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine led to a surge in forest and rural fires across the country. Combating them is all the more difficult amidst the war that binds all resources and unexploded mines that contaminate the territory

Armenia and Azerbaijan at Odds Again on Key Highway After EU-Facilitated Talks

01/08/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian Tbilisi

Despite recent diplomatic meetings Azerbaijan and Armenia are once again in a stalemate over the Lachin corridor, a 5km highway linking Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh. The blockade of this corridor by Azerbaijan is putting the inhabitants of Nagorno Karabakh in difficulty

Ukraine should reconsider its male travel ban

21/07/2023 -  Giorgio Comai

It is a violation of human rights, it is unnecessary, it forces unbearable decisions on families, and creates new vulnerabilities. As it renews its martial and mobilization laws in August, Ukraine should reconsider its male travel ban

Meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan: little progress for Nagorno Karabakh

05/07/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Armenia and Azerbaijan made further progress towards a peace deal in the three-day US-hosted talks in late June, yet tensions persist in the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh

Aleksandra Godfroid: Serbian media and the war in Ukraine

27/06/2023 -  Francesco Martino Belgrade

In Serbia, local media play a central role in shaping the narrative of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We talked about it with Aleksandra Godfroid, journalist of the N1 TV network

Russian invasion of Ukraine, the impact on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

19/06/2023

What is the impact over the Western Balkans of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? What are the possibel future scenarios in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina? Analysts, activists and area experts discussed it in a webinar organized by OBCT and CeSPI

Sasha Seregina: protesting in Serbia against the Russian invasion of Ukraine

15/06/2023 -  Francesco Martino Belgrade

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, a segment of Serbian society - traditionally pro-Russian - took to the streets to protest against the Kremlin. Among the first demonstrators there were many Russian citizens, including Sasha Seregina. We interviewed her

Edina Bećirević, the divisions of Bosnia Herzegovina and the paradox of Ukraine

12/06/2023 -  Francesco Martino Sarajevo

The start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, paradoxically, may have avoided a new open confrontation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is one of the reflections by Edina Bećirević, a professor at the University of Sarajevo and an expert on Russian influence in the Western Balkans. An interview

Armenia and Azerbaijan, new talks in Moscow, Chişinău, and Ankara

06/06/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

A tight series of talks and meetings attended by Nikol Pashinyan, prime minister of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, took place in various locations, from Moscow to Chişinău and even in Ankara. The goal was to seek the normalisation of relations between Yerevan and Baku

Serbia and Ukraine, a forgotten friendship

23/05/2023 -  Massimo Moratti Belgrade

Serbia and Ukraine used to have close geopolitical positions, but such friendship has been jeopardised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A study tries to take stock of the bilateral relations between Kyiv and Belgrade. We interviewed author Kateryna Shymkevych

Armenia-Azerbaijan, possible progress registered at Brussels meeting

17/05/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian Tbilisi

On Sunday, 14 May, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels for renewed talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel. Still many unresolved points but some small progress appears

U.S. Hosts Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers for Possible Roadmap to Peace Treaty

09/05/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

From 1 to 4 May, the United States hosted a meeting of talks between the Armenian Foreign Minister and his Azerbaijani counterpart. Few details of the meeting: there was some progress but points of disagreement remain on some key issues

Armenia-Azerbaijan, tensions rise as Baku establishes border control on Lachin Corridor

26/04/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

On April 23, Azerbaijan announced the creation of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, a move immediately criticized by the de facto authorities of Nagorno Karabakh and those of Armenia. The United States and France have also expressed concerns

Serbia between Moscow and the West: in the name of opportunism

30/03/2023 -  Francesco Martino Belgrade

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Serbia has navigated a delicate and increasingly uncomfortable balance between West and East. However, according to analyst Vuk Vuksanovic (Belgrade Centre for Security Policy), Serbian elites are mainly driven by their opportunism

Kyiv's street names are being heavily de-russified

28/03/2023 -  Yevheniia Drozdova

About 500 streets in Kyiv have been renamed since 2014 – many of them changed their name after the military aggression by Russia in 2022. Ukrainian and Western history and figures have now taken the place of Soviet or Russian ones

Azerbaijan and Karabakh Armenians talks at risk after gunfight

10/03/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

Recent gunfight casts doubt on prospects for talks between Azerbaijan and Karabakh Armenians

EUMA started observing Armenia's border with Azerbaijan

28/02/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

On 20 February the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) started observing the country’s fragile border with neighbouring Azerbaijan. EUMA is a tool to create a more conducive environment for negotiations between Yerevan and Baku

Armenia-Azerbaijan, a difficult dialogue

23/02/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

Hopes and tension at Munich Security Conference as Armenian and Azerbaijan leaders meet to discuss a peace treaty. The initial optimism for the historic meeting soon gave way to unresolved tensions between Pashinyan and Aliyev

Croatia: mines still kill

15/02/2023 -  Nicole Corritore

Despite the extensive demining programme of recent years – also made possible by EU cohesion funds – the mines from the 1990s conflict still claim victims in Croatia

Ukraine: war and labour rights

09/02/2023 -  Francesco Brusa

We were in Kryvyj Rih, an industrial city in central Ukraine, to investigate what the workers' organisations are doing and how they have reacted to the conflict

Nagorno Karabakh, life under the blockade

01/02/2023 -  Armine Avetisyan

For over two months, the population of Nagorno Karabakh has been isolated from the rest of the world by the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor. How life is in Stepanakert

European Union Establishes Longer-Term Monitoring Mission in Armenia

25/01/2023 -  Onnik James Krikorian

The European Union gave the green light on 23 January to the long-term mission in Armenia (EUMA). It is a monitoring mission on the border with Azerbaijan, it will employ about a hundred people and will be temporarily led by Stefano Tomat, senior official with the EU External Action Service

Ukraine: the Red Guelder Rose song

23/01/2023 -  Antoine Laurent

From the beginning of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, a traditional song called "In the Meadow, a red Guelder Rose" (Oi u luzi chervona kalyna) has become the symbol of the Ukrainian resistance

The future of Donbass according to Izolyatsia

18/01/2023 -  Francesco Brusa

"Our job is not to 'correct' people or to tell them what to think, rather we should be able to offer a credible idea of a future together". Mykhailo Glubokyi is one of the organisers of the Izolyatsia cultural space, founded in Donetsk and then moved to Kyiv. We interviewed him

Time is running out for war crimes prosecution in Bosnia

20/12/2022 -  Massimo Moratti

“A race against time” is the title of a recent report by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) highlighting the delays in implementation of the country’s strategy for war crimes prosecution. The risk is to see the process prolonged for a number of years. While the completion of those trials was a top priority for the country only 15 years ago, it has now become hostage to political tensions in Bosnia