By July 1st, the 74 Serbian media still owned by the state or local governments will have to be privatised, but some say the deadline could slip to October
EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn told a BIRN conference that media freedom in the Balkans has become a major concern that must be addressed urgently
Serbia's Prime Minister paid a historic visit to Albania last week. Major disagreements remain, especially over Kosovo, but great cordiality was expressed. In the background, the need for collaboration on major infrastructure projects for the region
Bulgaria is among the few European countries that have announced the achievement of the objectives of the "Europe 2020" strategy on renewable energy. At the same time, the sector is said to be in crisis and unsustainable. Our report
After years of extreme hostility, PDK and LDK strike a power sharing deal creating a government which will have to tackle the huge unemployment problem, and make progress on the normalisation of relations with Belgrade
The Maria Bamieh revelations on corruption inside the European rule of law mission in Kosovo, although not promptly investigated, appear to lack any real basis. Clearing the mission on a circumscribed scandal, however, will likely reduce the urgency for a much needed audition of its record overall
The recent allegations on EULEX seem too selective to be of much assistance for an analysis of the European mission’s performance. The whole mission, starting from its judicial functions, should be thoroughly scrutinized
Changing laws in a country is often relatively easy; changing the culture in regard to the application of those laws is never easy. To date, EULEX has done nothing to attempt to address this fundamental problem and now it is too late according to the author, a US judge who spent the last year in the mission
The decision to hand over the judicial system to domestic authorities, cutting Eulex’s mandate before its objectives were achieved, will not help Kosovo in the long term. Analysis of the recent EC report
Media concentration and lack of ownership transparency are a major obstacle to media pluralism and freedom in Bulgaria. According to media law expert Nelly Ognyanova, neither of these obstacles can be removed without political will. Interview
After the enlargement stop set by President Juncker, some fear the risk of a Turkish scenario for the Western Balkans, i.e. negotiations that never end. Renzo Daviddi, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thinks different. Interview
The European Parliament is running the hearings of the members of the new Juncker Commission. Johannes Hahn will be responsible for enlargement and neighbourhood policies. An analysis
Serbia adopted new rules that require the State to leave media ownership. Media associations have welcomed the new legislation, introduced as a result of pressure from Brussels
"What is most interesting about the report unveiled on Tuesday by the special investigative task force (SITF) is not what it says about the KLA, but what it implies about the post-conflict and state-building international interventions in Kosovo". A comment by Andrea Lorenzo Capussela
Keeping a toothless Eulex in Kosovo for two more years is not only a waste of money. It is also providing legitimacy to the decisions of vulnerable judges
The Serbian government is facing increasingly frequent accusations of web censorship. The interventions by the OSCE and the European Commission, the reactions of prime minister Vučić
The EU elections confirmed traditional electoral trends in Cyprus, with a record level of abstention and two seats each for the two main Greek-Cypriots parties. Controversies mounted about thousands of Turkish-Cypriots citizens not allowed to vote
Alexis Tsipras' radical left (SYRIZA)is the winner of the European elections in Greece. Yet, despite the defeat, conservative prime minister Samaras rejected the request for early elections and is preparing for a government reshuffle
The environmentalist party ORaH, born just six months ago, managed to rank third in the European elections in Croatia with 9.4%. The celebrations at the headquarters and the preparations for the upcoming 2015 political elections
The European debate on the authorization for cultivating Pioneer 1507 corn has raised fears in the youngest country of the Union, where all regions have declared themselves "GMO free"
Dutch MEP Marije Cornelissen (Greens/EFA) – a member of the Parliamentary Group for the rights of homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons—describes the current state of the fight against homophobia and for LGBT rights in the Balkans
All the citizens of Cyprus, whether in the north or the south, could theoretically vote in the European elections. But this will not happen. The Greek Cypriots are showing scarce interest, while the Turkish-Cypriots are restricted by voting regulations
In Georgia the majority of the population is in favor of closer ties with the European Union. However this will depend on progress made in terms of human rights protection and it is in these issues that stumbling blocks might frustrate Georgian ambitions
Croatia's new Criminal Code establishes the offence of "humiliation", a barrier to freedom of expression that has already claimed its first victim among journalists – Slavica Lukić, of newspaper Jutarnji list
