Balkans

A group of 16 Afghan evacuees living at an American military base in Kosovo since the fall of their country to the Taliban last year have been deemed ineligible to enter the U.S., according to media reports and government officials. The State Department is seeking other countries willing to take …

Enraged by the Greek premier’s remarks to US Congress against arms sales to Turkey, Erdogan denounces Greece, along with Sweden and Finland, for supporting terrorism. Opening up a new battlefront with NATO allies, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced late Monday that he had “written off” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis …

There is a window of opportunity for the EU to revive the stalled dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo – against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and with strong governments in Paris and Berlin. The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process is lagging again. The last time that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and …

From Moldova to Montenegro, everyone seems to be in a hurry, though perhaps for different reasons. Meanwhile, in some corners of south-east Europe, the gloves are coming off, in more ways than one. In a Hurry Moldova is working hard to strike while the proverbial EU enlargement iron is hot …

Young people growing up in the multi-ethnic Brcko District in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina say that although they cannot remember the 1992-95 war, its bitter divisions still cast a shadow over their lives. “I grew up in a post-war situation and there’s a lot of, like, fear of war… a …

The work of reconciliation is hampered by the way some historians in both countries don’t want to deconstruct the political myths embedded in the teaching of history.Since Bulgaria and North Macedonia signed a landmark friendship agreement in 2017, a joint commission focused on history has been working to bridge their …

The governments of Sweden and Finland have formally submitted their applications to join NATO after thorough discussion within their respective parliaments. The move will prove to be the latest and arguably the most significant development from the West in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I warmly welcome the requests …

Belgrade enjoys warm ties with Moscow but in recent weeks, pro-government tabloids have turned on Putin. “Ukraine attacks Russia!” and “Putin checkmates Ukraine,” were among the headlines run by Serbia’s pro-government tabloids at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Putin is sending his army to unite Serbia and [Bosnia’s …

How U.S. Policy Is Making a Bad Situation Worse In the Balkans, and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, images from Ukraine of besieged cities, massacres, and mass displacement are re-traumatizing a society that has never been allowed to heal after the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. …

Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region are unfolding at a breakneck pace. Blink an eye and one is bound to miss a new multilateral initiative, an impressive military exercise or even the creation of an international organization. Greece is very much in the middle of this diplomatic and military frenzy, …