Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, is a divided city but it retains a 'bastard' soul. Katharina Urbanek and Milan Mijalkovic have dedicated a book to it, looking into the meaning of the deep transformations - spatial and symbolic - that the city is currently undergoing with the controversial "Skopje 2014" plan. Our interview
For some it's a monument to the strength of the human spirit, others think it was a place of torture. A journey into the tunnel of Sarajevo, a 700 metre underground track which, for the inhabitants of the Bosnian capital, meant the difference between life and death
Sexist advertisements are invading Chişinău, the capital of Moldova. The image of the woman depicted is clear: sexy and beautiful, a good servant for men, a hardworking housewife. Two companies using such advertisement have already been sued. But people still bump into billboards with sexy women all over. A feature story
After a long series of attempts, the first McDonald’s of Bosnia and Herzegovina opens in Sarajevo. What follows are the declarations from the American Ambassador, the reactions from Sarajevans and the welcome by the ćevapčići chain “Mrkva”
Chechnya recently openly celebrated Chechen Language Day, but Russian is still the country's official language and fewer and fewer Chechens are fluent in their own mother-tongue
The Azeri duo “Ell and Nikki” won the 2011 edition of Eurovision. Eurovision 2012 will thus be held in Baku. Some believe that the international attention brought by the event will push the Azeri authorities to democratic openings, while others are convinced that the tourism sector will be the only beneficiary of the event
It is a place to meet, a place for friends, for lovers. It is Vilsonovo Avenue, in Sarajevo, shaded by four rowes of age-old lime trees that survived even the 90’s war. When the lime trees are in flower, it is time to go back
On 21 June, a controversial, colossal monument to Alexander the Great was erected in Skopje’s central square. Strongly supported by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the bronze giant stirred heated international debate (Greece, of course, officially protested) but also split the Macedonian public opinion. A commentary
A sport’s legend is able to solve the Bosnian soccer crisis, banned from international competitions because incapable of electing just one President for its football federation rather than three. An injection full of trust that could contaminate its politics
Inspired, not by the nightmare investigator Dylan Dog, though it could seem so, but by schemes already running in cities like Paris and London, the administrators of the Romanian capital Bucharest have decided to look to their cemeteries to revive tourism in the city
The five point star has returned to European coins over twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Slovenia has just issued a million coins for two euro dedicated to a legendary partisan commander, Franc Rozman
A real social and cultural barometer in the heart of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, this is an ancient Ottoman market which, in the last 20 years, has changed from being a disreputable quarter to a trendy one. Another article in our dossier on Ottoman markets in the Balkans
In Duba-Yurt, a Chechen village hard hit by the war that devastated the region in the 1990s, there lived an old man who grew tulips. A spark of colour and hope in dark times. A true story that almost seems like a fable
The European dream is strongly rooted in the imagination of Albanian young generations. Tirana's twenty-somethings, who grew up during the identity crisis of the nineties, are sure: Albania's future is in Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen as the solution to every problem, while few question the possible impact of integration in a country that, so far, remains isolated
In Chechnya there is official support for attacks on women when they are considered to have ‘flouted’ Islamic rules by not wearing a headscarf or covering up enough. Tanya Lokshina listened to some of the women’s despairing accounts. From openDemocracy.net
Leader of the Turkish feminist movement, Fätmagül Berktay has defended the right to university even for those wearing the veil. “The Kemalist constitution let us move forward in society, but it had no effect on domestic violence, widespread in any class and ethnicity. The EU would make us stronger”. Our interview
Half of the migrants resident in Italy comes from Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans, and non-EU Eastern Europe, not to mention those from Central Europe. But who lives where? Exclusively for Osservatorio sui Balcani e Caucaso, an analysis of the main communities by macro-region
An Ottoman-style market, a çarshija, right in the heart of Tirana, of which today only faint memories remain. Architecture, social relations and memory in an interview with the anthropologist Armanda Kodra
Last August, the youth forum “Mashuk 2010”, the first summer camp promoted by Moscow's government and solely devoted to young people from the Russian Caucasus, was held in Pyatigorsk, an old spa town in Russia’s North Caucasian Federal District. The event focused on training for cultural interaction and support to youth entrepreneurship
They make the most of electronic communication and low-cost flights. They live inbetween the “here” of their country of origin, and the “there” of the one they have chosen to work in. They use multiple identities. They are the “Euro-nomads”, a group on the constant rise, even in Bulgaria
Thousands of young people from all over the world took part in a camp organised by the Russian government. A portrait of today's Russia, a country looking for openness and international recognition, where development and innovation are strictly tied to the Putin-Medvedev governmental “tandem”. A reportage
In North Ossetia, an increasing number of people are able to fulfil the dream of owning their own home. A deeper journey into Vladikavkaz's real-estate market winds through construction scandals, bank offers, new mansions, and Stalinist apartments
Milosevic, war, the Kosovo issue: Strongly negative images associated with Serbia since the 1990s. Now, an unavoidable task is (re)branding the country. Sport and culture slowly change some things, but institutions still struggle to elaborate a consistent strategy
All the people from Peja, Kosovo, would have no second thoughts if they were asked to identify Majlinda Kelmendi: the gold medal winner of the junior world championship of Paris, in 2009. The life and story of a girl who dreams of representing Kosovo in the 2012 Olympic games
Months of obsessive treatment, because in a Yugoslavia struck by a deep-crisis, Tito should have not died. Instead, in the afternoon of May 4th 1980, the inevitable happened. Thirty years since the death of the Marshal, thirty years since the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia
For the Western viewer, a well-acted comedy; for the Bulgarian audience, crazy laughs as well as disillusionment for the broken dreams of transition and an elite that turned out to be dishonest and useless. Now in cinemas, Mission London, from Alek Popov's best-seller
Urban development concerns over church territory restoration in Yerevan. After the destruction of city parks and controversial projects such as Northern Avenue, the reaction of residents against the planned demolition of historical Cinema Moscow Open-Air Hall
Political and religious satire in Turkey. The old humour tradition, popularity among the masses, legal controversies. Our interview with Metin Üstündağ, cofounder of the humour and satire magazine "Penguen"
Novruz, a Zoroastrian holiday, marks the beginning of spring. Prohibited but celebrated discreetly in Soviet years, Novruz is now one of the most anticipated holidays in Azerbaijan
