In Azerbaijan, Turkey has always been considered a brother country. In spite of this long-standing friendship, the Azerbaijani government openly expressed its distress about recent signs of rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia
A few days before Easter, the Macedonian constitutional court cancelled a law enacted by the VMRO-DPMNE led government introducing optional religious education in public schools. This act marked the beginning of the fiercest dispute between the executive and highest judiciary institution
After the elections' violent ending, that saw the symbols of the official power devastated and a violent repression of young protesters, political opponents, and independent media, an equally tense aftermath threatens to polarise Moldovan society
The breakthrough in Armenian-Turkish relations and the new shifts in the regional landscape. Consequences of a possible reopening of the borders on the wider South Caucasian region
After the protests that followed the 5 April vote in Moldova, the situation has slowly returned to normal. But Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal-Democratic party, insists on an annulment of the vote and new elections. Our interview.
On 9 April, the government opposition in Tbilisi, Georgia started a new wave of protests to demand the resignation of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. The protests have been peaceful but are rapidly heading into a stalemate
After last Sunday's elections, the opposition took to the streets of Chişinău to protest the victory of the Communist party. Peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violent clashes between the protesters and the police when the crowd stormed the Parliament and Presidency buildings
The electoral campaign in Moldova ends with serious infringements of citizenship rights. Fifty Moldovan students studying in Romania were denied entering their own country, while three hundred Romanian citizens were stopped at the border and prevented to participate in cultural and political events organised by electoral candidates
Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first president of independent Armenia, will participate in the municipal elections of the Armenian capital to be held on 31 May. Amid fears of election rigging, with both sides convinced of their own sweeping victory, the opposition hopes to weaken the legitimacy of president Sargsyan
"They listen to my generation's stories of fighting against Slobodan Milošević's regime like we used to listen to the partisans' stories we were told, once upon a time." The bombings and the generation born under them, the unsaid, the future
On 22 March, Macedonian citizens will go to the polls to elect a new president and new local governments. If Macedonia runs a good election, it might hope to get a date to start accession talks with the EU, perhaps by the end of 2009. But if the election doesn't go well, Macedonia can forget about it
Just before the start of the electoral campaign, Macedonian prime minister Gruevski announced a massive plan to invest in infrastructures. Little resources, though, seems to have been allocated to revive the "European Corridor 8", meant to link the Adriatic to the Black Sea
The war in Georgia and the recent gas crisis with Ukraine have revived Europe's willingness to develop the Nabucco pipeline, an alternative transit route for gas imports from the Caspian Sea basin that would bypass Russia
The end of division in Europe, the end of Yugoslavia, the advent of globalisation: an interview with Rada Ivekovic. A new article in the series on European identity, the new system of international relations and the memory of communism in the first 20 years after 1989
Macedonians have become bitter with each other. Over themselves. Over who they are. Over whether they are Slav or ancient Macedonians. Op-eds and commentaries have overwhelmed the press; the blogosphere has overheated. It all started because of a monument
Two important Chechen politicians in exile, Bukhari Baraev and Akhmed Zakaev, have announced, one right after the other, their intentions to return to Chechnya soon
From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the European integration process, via the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The controversial heritage of Communism in Europe, made of nostalgia, social injustice and demand for security. An interview with Slavenka Drakulić
As presidential elections approach, Macedonians have become embroiled in a heated debate over who they are. The "identity issue" will clearly be a thorny one in the upcoming campaign. And while VMRO revives the myth of Alexander the Great, many Macedonians are still perfectly comfortable with their Slavic roots
On 10 February, Italy commemorates the Istrian Exodus and the "Foibe" whereas on 15 September, Slovenia marks the "restitution of the coast to the motherland." The two countries celebrate, with their own contrasting festivals, conflicting interpretations of what happened in the Upper Adriatic during the 20th century
Macedonia caught the fever again. Merely six months after the early national vote of June 2008, the country braces itself again for elections. The presidential and local vote will both be held on 22 March. For the past weeks, the country's biggest political issue concerns the possible candidates for future head of state
A proposal for a new partnership between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union. Among its key features, a change of the consitutional structure, an effort to put an end to international dependence, and the development of a process of cooperation in the Western Balkans
The global economic crisis is at Croatia's doorstep. The budget deficit is on the rise, industrial production is in decline and external debt stands at 36 billion Euro. For now, public debate is monopolized by the world handball championship but economists foresee a rude awakening
In Azerbaijan the government has proposed a referendum to lift the two-term presidential restriction and introduce other changes that would undermine fundamental tenants of the country's Constitution. A ban on foreign broadcasting and the conviction of prominent journalists consolidate state control over media and free flow of information
On 8 February 2009, Switzerland will decide by referendum whether or not to approve an agreement with the European Union which would extend to Bulgaria and Romania the right of free movement of persons through its territory. For the two Balkan countries, the vote, especially if negative, will test the strength of European solidarity
With Obama's first days in the White House comes hope for a new direction in human rights protection after the Bush era. The case of the "Six Algerians" kidnapped in Sarajevo in 2002 and held in Guantanamo for 7 years. A comment by former UN High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Wolfgang Petritsch
Turkey has launched a public TV channel in Kurdish - TRT 6. The law prohibiting the use of Kurdish for political purposes remains in force. The reactions to Erdoğan's "opening," the views of Kurdish politicians and intellectuals, and commentary from Leyla Zana
Oil and Politics in Azerbaijani history. The ambiguous effects of oil-related income in the modernization of the country and in the strengthening of an autocracy close to the West but hostile to freedom of expression
Romania has a new government based on an agreement between the social democrats and the liberal democrats, and led by the latter's president, Emil Boc. Despite the new government's large majority, it has already been exposed to a storm of media criticism as it considers hard choices in confronting the economic crisis
Slovenia quietly blocked Croatia's accession into the European Union (EU), because of a few kilometres of disputed land and maritime border in the Piran bay. The relations between the two countries are tenser than ever before. The EU headquarters is trying not to take sides
They risk imprisonment of 23 to 58 years. They are minors and Kurds. They are awaiting trial for their participation in the protests against the Turkish government last October. The debate concerns minors involved in political protests and violations of the rights of children by police and the judiciary
