Balkans

‘Autocrats help autocrats’ At the end of 2021, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged 100 million euros for Republika Srpska. At the time of the announcement, the aid sparked public debate in Bosnia and Herzegovina about whether the funds would come with strings attached, a possible quid pro quo from …

What does solidarity truly mean – especially in contexts where ethnonationalism is deeply entrenched? This question has guided much of my work as a community organizer, creating inter-ethnic spaces for Balkan diasporas in the UK. As someone with roots in Kosovo, I’ve often faced the erasure of my identity – …

Turkey was among the first to recognise Kosovo in 2008 and has since backed its efforts for wider international recognition. During the early 2010s, frequent visits between then prime minister Hashim Thaci and Erdogan deepened ties, while Turkish companies secured major stakes in Kosovo’s economy: from the airport and electricity …

When Përparim Rama entered the political scene in Kosovo during the 2021 local elections, many considered him a breath of fresh air for the governance of Prishtina. This was because he did not come from party structures, but it was also due to his professional background as an architect with …

But it had a dark side to it, nevertheless. Some 300,000 ethnic Turks were forced to leave their homes in the 1980s, after the regime attempted to Bulgarian-ise them by force. Information about the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in the Ukraine of 1986 was concealed from the population, while debris …

“A few weeks before the 2024 election campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina started, my phone rang – it was a top-ranking person in the city administration and the ruling party. This person had never called me before nor have they since,” recounted Aleksandar Drakulic, the owner of a local news …

Kosovo’s local elections on October 12 come at a time of unusual strain. What should have been a routine democratic exercise has instead become a test of whether the country can sustain its institutions, integrate its Serb minority, and manage the costs of decisions taken in pursuit of sovereignty. The …

“A few weeks before the 2024 election campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina started, my phone rang – it was a top-ranking person in the city administration and the ruling party. This person had never called me before nor have they since,” recounted Aleksandar Drakulic, the owner of a local news …

“Tell them you’re only offering educational materials,” one said into the camera. “Nothing more.” The raid was one of 22 carried out the same day in Serbia, Bulgaria and Cyprus, coordinated by Europol and involving considerable manpower and intelligence from Germany. Four call centres were hit, all of them in …

No one seems to care about the beaten woman. Instead, those who performed their civic duty are in the dock while their attackers – who clearly pulled strings – remain at liberty. Their escape from justice is hardly unusual. If they are off the hook because of kickbacks and political …