Balkans

The United States under Joe Biden must resist turning a blind eye to Russia’s provocations in Kosovo and across in the Balkans in exchange for deals elsewhere.

Turkey has agreed to resume long-stalled talks with Greece on complex territorial disputes, but its calculus appears focused on short-term gains in its relations with the United States and the European Union.

Greece and Turkey will hold explanatory talks for the first time in years following the tensions that peaked last year between the regional rivals, although the two parties have yet to agree on the issues to be discussed. Greece and Turkey will sit down for exploratory talks on Jan. 25 …

Reliable sources have informed thee Syrian Observatory that unknown gunmen attacked, last night, a checkpoint of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham at the southern entrance of Idlib city, on the road to Areha. Clashes erupted between the attackers and HTS members stationed at the checkpoint, then HTS brought in military reinforcement to …

Greek lawmakers have approved a government plan to purchase advanced fighter jets from France in a three-billion-dollar deal that is expected to infuriate Turkey, amid a dispute with Athens over energy resources in the Mediterranean.

Hostility to Jews has never been a state ideology in Montenegro, and so has never taken root among citizens, Luciano Mose Prelevic tells BIRN. Montenegro is one of few countries in the world where anti-Semitism does not manifest itself in public at all, the Chief Rabbi of Montenegro and Croatia, …

Christmas comments by outspoken Serbian Orthodox bishop Grigorije have fuelled talk of a potential political challenge to Serbia’s ruling Progressives. On January 7, when Orthodox Christians mark Christmas, a Serbian Orthodox bishop in Germany gave an interview to Balkan news outlet NewsMax Adria. His remarks, however, were more political than …

Research shows Orban’s allies exert control over more than 50 per cent of influential media outlets. And that does not mean the rest belongs to the opposition; rather these outlets operate as independent islands, which also act independently of each other.

With an election in June, former Grand Mufti Muamer Zukorlic has landed a powerful blow in the fight for ascendancy in Serbia’s mainly Muslim Sandzak region. Observers, however, say he is being used by the Serbian government.

The latest political pledge to amend Bosnia’s electoral law and constitution in line with rulings by the European Court of Human Rights looks destined to fail. It’s time the institutions of state take the lead, with the help of NGOs, academics and the international community.