Balkans

Today, Serbia does not enjoy a reputation as a free country. The philosophy of strong hand, top-down organization of society, a socialist understanding of economy, and fierce nationalism are its trademarks. The legacy of socialism with a human face, of which I have written elsewhere, has entrenched a statist mentality …

The conduct of Serbia’s latest elections points to the country’s democratic decline. The EU cannot stay neutral in the face of President Vucic’s provocations and authoritarian tendencies. There is a certain back-to-the-future quality to Serbia. One would think that the country has long moved on from the lows of the …

At the end of 2023, the Balkans was ensnared in a complex tapestry of digital misdirection, a surge of online attacks targeting women and escalating cyber threats.In the closing months of 2023, a wave of misinformation gripped North Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey. Deceptive political narratives, manipulated charts, and orchestrated …

Kosovo’s first-ever transitional justice strategy is soon to be adopted, almost 25 years after the war ended – but experts argue that although it’s a step forward, it doesn’t do enough to address the problems that have persisted since 1999. More than two years since the drafting of Kosovo’s first-ever …

Western actors in the Balkans prioritize regional stability above all other considerations – and while Vucic delivers that, they will continue to view election irregularities as a secondary matter.Just five days after highly controversial elections in Serbia, the social media accounts of the US embassy in Belgrade published a video …

The conduct of Serbia’s latest elections points to the country’s democratic decline. The EU cannot stay neutral in the face of President Vucic’s provocations and authoritarian tendencies. There is a certain back-to-the-future quality to Serbia. One would think that the country has long moved on from the lows of the …

Two days ago on 17 December, general and local elections took place in Serbia, a Western Balkans country often linked with conflicts. The outcomes of the elections are already being challenged by the majority of opposition leaders, particularly within the ‘Serbia Against Violence’ coalition. The results of these elections in …

The two small European mountain countries have a deep political, economic, historical but above all human relationship, through numerous personal ties. About 250,000 people belong to the Kosovar diaspora in Switzerland. This is significantly lower than Italians living in Switzerland, for example. And yet it’s a high number. After all, …

A team of international observers on Monday (18 December) slammed Serbian elections over a string of “irregularities”, including “vote buying” and “ballot box stuffing”, after the opposition accused the ruling party of committing voter fraud. The accusations aired by the monitors, which included representatives from the Organization for Security and …

Extraordinary parliamentary elections in Serbia, extraordinary elections for the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and extraordinary local elections for the capital city of Belgrade and an additional 65 local self-governments will take place on 17 December 2023. According to analysts, these elections are considered the most important since …