Balkans

Zuzana Čaputová, trust in whom has dropped precipitously over the past year, is under attack by politicians from all sides. Will she run again in 2024? More than three years ago, Zuzana Čaputová, then just elected as Slovakia’s president, promised to be a president for all her country’s people. “I …

Migrants and refugees in Bosnia liken their attempts to cross the border into EU-member Croatia to a ‘game’ – in which victory means a new start in the West. Twenty-eight-year-old Mohasinne from Morocco “gamed” the border more than a hundred times before he finally succeeded. BIRN met him together with …

Another purpose of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit is to seek greater economic and technological cooperation with Greece. Saudi Arabia and Greece have signed a new energy agreement. The memorandum of understanding, signed on July 27, establishes a framework for bilateral cooperation on a variety of energy fields, …

Turkey and Turkmenistan are working on a gas deal that will likely extend to Europe in a bid to reduce Western dependency on Russian gas. With fears mounting that Russia may cut off gas supplies to Europe, Turkey is working on plans to bring in gas from Turkmenistan and has …

The European Union’s treats Western Balkans states as a wicked stepmother. While this has not significantly changed even after the Russian invasion on Ukraine, it did triggered a fundamental debate on whether the EU wants at all to admit the remaining six Western Balkan countries (Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, …

The Western Balkan six – five of the former Yugoslavia’s successor states plus Albania – remain outside the EU as war wounds fester and reform efforts stumble. Brussels should find means short of promising accession to help guide these countries back onto the right track. What’s new? Twenty-plus years after the …

The EU will finalise the issue of visa liberalisation for Kosovo citizens in the coming months, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen said during a press conference in Pristina on Monday, sentiments echoed by Slovenia. Tuppurainen said that Finland supports the Euro-Atlantic process of Kosovo and the Western Balkan …

On day three of protests, Skopje finds itself torn between parties and citizens who oppose the French proposal regarding unlocking Bulgaria’s veto, and pressure from Albania and domestic ethnic Albanian parties to accept it. Following a proposal from the French that some areas of dispute, centred on culture, language, and …

Following disagreements over stances on Russia, Slovakia intends to ‘mute’ foreign policy cooperation between the Visegrád countries as Bratislava takes over the rotating presidency of the embattled regional bloc. Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland form the Visegrád group, a regional grouping that uniformly fought against the refugee relocation system during …

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus have promoted their military relations in the face of security threats and to defend their interests in the Eastern Mediterranean that is rich in oil and gas reserves. The defense ministers of Egypt, Cyprus and Greece held a meeting in Cairo on June 20 during which …