Balkans

The long-standing mayor of Struga is the first politician from North Macedonia’s ruling alliance to be put on a US black list of people linked to corruption – although his concrete wrongdoings remain unclear.Merko was designated uneligable to enter the United States, “due to his involvement in significant corruption”, the …

Serbia is already seeing an erosion of civil rights and liberties, democracy and the rule of law – and many fear the rapidly expanding use of advanced technologies will be directed against them rather than criminals and terrorists. The emergence of digital surveillance performed by state actors coincides with the …

The surveillance scandal made headlines but did not hurt the Greek government at the ballot box. Experts say this reflects a general ambivalence about privacy violations in the digital era. Whatever information Thanasis Koukakis had been sharing with his readers, it was not quite enough. Someone wanted more. Twice in …

In 2022, the EU announced plans to fund a new detention unit within the grounds of a Temporary Reception Centre near Bosnia’s north-western border with Croatia. In recent months, however, significant confusion and controversy has emerged surrounding the centre. In November 2022, the EU’s Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi …

Statements by officials in Belgrade, Pristina, and in the West are full of demands to calm the tension in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, even though political and security moves are being made on the ground that go beyond the wildest ideas of “masterminds” from the Surrealist Top List …

The surveillance scandal made headlines but did not hurt the Greek government at the ballot box. Experts say this reflects a general ambivalence about privacy violations in the digital era.Whatever information Thanasis Koukakis had been sharing with his readers, it was not quite enough. Someone wanted more. Twice in the …

The cancellation of a joint meeting between the two governments due to the tense situation in Kosovo’s Serb-majority north has further damaged already frayed relations between Albin Kurti and Edi Rama.The final steps to organize the ninth annual joint meeting between Kosovo’s and Albania’s governments were still being taken late …

The recent escalation in Kosovo demonstrates the US and the EU have adopted a dangerous strategy of appeasing expansionist Belgrade. Images of pipe-wielding and stone-throwing Serb militant nationalists assaulting NATO peacekeepers in the northern Kosovo town of Zvecan in late May put the Balkan country in the international spotlight once …

The Balkans is a part of the European continent that can be divided into the Eastern Balkans and the Western Balkans. In the last two decades, some countries in the region are members of the European Union, some are members of NATO, and some are on the verge of joining …

Democracy and legality haven’t solved the problem so the US must also rely on humanity, reality, self-interest, and sheer common sense. In the appallingly complicated politics of the western Balkans, one thing at least is abundantly clear: that without the presence of Western troops, and the threat of NATO military …