Politics

The presidential elections were scheduled for next October, but surprisingly the head of state has called them on April 11. Why did president Aliyev take and sign this decision?

For years, Italian media have been repeating that 19,000 Italians live and work in Albania. Yet, according to the data of the Albanian Interior Ministry, they are less than 2,000. How can we explain such a difference?

Tourism, traffic, pollution, and constructions. Plitvice, today, no longer rhymes with transparent waters and uncontaminated nature. And the lakes risk to be removed from the UNESCO heritage list

Defeated in the 2016 presidential runoff, Maia Sandu has not left politics. She has recently visited Italy for a series of meetings with the diaspora. Here she speaks about her vision on Moldova

Serbia increasingly appears as a central hub in the Balkans for the Chinese-led "Belt and Road Initiative", both at an infrastructural and a political level. We discussed about it with Dragana Mitrović (University of Belgrade)

Freedom has been decreasing in several European countries over the last decade, according to the new Freedom House report.

The Albanian civil war of 1997 was ended by an Italian-led international contingent. Twenty years after Operation Alba, the Prime Minister who promoted it has returned to the Land of the Eagles. An interview

The ethnic-Albanian members of the so-called "Kumanovo group" received long sentences by the Skopje Court. The ruling, however, doesn't clarify all the many doubts on the case

After the SDSM’s landslide victory in the local elections, the coalition led by Zoran Zaev has now steady ground to implement systematic reforms, start legal proceedings related to the wiretapping scandal, and dismantle the mechanisms that enabled the state capture by former prime minister Nikola Gruevski

"We have always valued hope over victory. Now, however, we are winning some of our battles". An interview with Ceren Karlıdaĝ, journalist, feminist, among the protagonists of the magazine Sujin Gazete.

Former intelligence collaborator Gjorgi Lazarevski disclosed thousands of illegal wiretappings. "Bombs" which brought to the end of Gruevski's government

With the eyes of the public still on the judicial troubles of the former Interior Minister Tahiri, Prime Minister Rama is back to attacking the press, confirming the ambiguous relationship between Albanian media and politics

"We call it the triangle of the three s's: sermaye, sendika, and siyaset – capital, unions, and politics". An interview with the journalist and activist Özgür Karaduman about consensus and dissent in Erdoĝan's Turkey

The political parable in Ukraine of former Georgian president Saakashvili is not over. Meanwhile, President Poroshenko has already launched a long election campaign ahead of the 2019 presidential elections

Media lynching for those who do not toe the government line, judicial authorities that do not protect citizens, independent journalists accused of conspiracy. This is Vučić's Serbia

Confirmations, continuity and little innovation in Tirana's new socialist government, increasingly resembling its leader Edi Rama

Despite years of international efforts aimed at integration, the system of higher education in Kosovo continues to reflect and replicate the country’s deep ethnic divisions

The reactions in Macedonia to the good-neighbour agreement between Skopje and Sofia, between ideological U-turns by traditional parties and the praise of the Orthodox monks

The signing of the good-neighbour agreement with Macedonia, long pursued by Bulgaria, is undoubtedly a success for Sofia's diplomacy. However, the practical and long-term effects of the agreements remain to be seen

Skopje 2014 was the trademark project of former PM Gruevski, aimed at transforming the capital and celebrating nationalism. With the change of government, the art of colourful protest has risen to power and tries to de-aestheticise the old regime

A "war for truth" is being fought today in Bosnia and Herzegovina – a clash based on ethnic competition, with words and stories about the past as the main weapons

Experts increasingly warn about the serious risks stemming from the consolidation of a vicious “stabilitocracy”. The focus of European and Western interests in the Balkans shifted from democratisation and human rights to security issues

Albanian democracy needs a challenger to its undisputed leader

The Azerbaijani regime should harbor no illusions. It will never achieve a strategic partnership agreement with the EU like those obtained by the US, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil and others

For over 10 years, Turkey has received EU funds supporting reforms and democratisation. In light of the country's authoritarian drift, however, many wonder whether this strategy still makes sense

The islanders of Croatia want to be protagonists of their future, and their voices have arrived to Zagreb. A review

An interview with Vladimir Jokić, 29, mayor of the historic city of Kotor and member of the newborn opposition party Democratic Montenegro

Next July, the fourth summit of the Western Balkans will take place in Trieste. The RECOM coalition looks at the event as an occasion for revival and has gathered thousands of signatures from citizens of the region

On May 31^st, Aleksandar Vučić left the position of prime minister to become head of state, with a ceremony that reminded many of a coronation

It is no secret that the courts in Russia fail to maintain their independence from the government. This is perhaps most acute of all in Chechnya