Balkans

Revelations the Hungarian government is considering taking a huge, opaque and disadvantageous Chinese loan to pay for the construction of Fudan University’s new Budapest campus shows the depths that Orban’s Fidesz is willing to kowtow to Beijing. When Hungary’s top diplomat openly criticised the EU for sanctioning some of the …

With many citing reasons other than politics for their return home and some intending either to return to the UK or try their chances elsewhere in the EU, any boost to the region may not be lasting Eva Pavelkova moved to the UK in 2006, shortly after graduating as a …

The political elites in Belgrade have made good use of the politically controlled media to transform China’s image in the country. Close connections with the Serbian political elite and the favourable presentation of China in Serbian media, especially from outlets close to the Serbian government, have made China one of …

Kosovo has made progress in reducing a backlog of corruption cases, but very few corrupt officials end up behind bars. Its rivals in Kosovo’s February election, Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] vowed to reinvigorate the fight against endemic corruption in Europe’s youngest state. Winning in a landslide, Vetevendosje will have the chance to …

After a turbulent year, April’s elections are bound to bring about a shakeup in the country’s parliament – but with opposition forces so divided, the governing parties’ defeat is far from certain. Bulgaria’s Game of Thrones is starting to look more and more like a different movie – perhaps the …

In November 2001, the Special Operations Unit, a Serbian State Security special forces unit, staged an armed mutiny and blocked highways, saying that they wanted the government to stop extraditing Serbs to the UN war crimes court in The Hague. Looking back almost 20 years later, veteran journalist Milos Vasic …

Balkans states might be prepared on paper, but in practice they are struggling to confront the growing threat from cyber-attacks. Bosnia doesn’t have a state-level strategy. It wasn’t voting irregularities or the counting of postal ballots that delayed the results of last year’s parliamentary election in North Macedonia, but an …

There’s no love lost between Edi Rama and Albin Kurti. But if Rama wins a third term as Albanian prime minister, their relationship may shape relations between Albania and Kosovo for years to come, with ramifications for the region.

The big powers have long understood the need to unite scientific know-how with diplomacy both to deal with common problems and raise their international profiles – when will the Balkan states do likewise? “To remain relevant and competitive, we need to engage more in science diplomacy and global scientific collaboration,” …

Kosovo Albanians from the villages of Qirez/Cirez and Likoshan/Likosane recall how their relatives were murdered 23 years ago in attacks by Serbian forces that galvanised support for armed resistance to the Yugoslav regime. At Sheremet Sejdiu’s home in the village of Qirez/Cirez, there is a black marble plaque commemorating his …