Recent Posts

What Bosnia’s EU Candidate Status Really Means

Becoming an official candidate for membership of the European Union is no longer the cause for celebration it once was. Accession talks remain a long way off and membership will be no magic wand for Bosnia’s ills. On December 15, the European Union awarded Bosnia and Herzegovina with candidate status, …

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Illegal Builder in Albania’s capital Linked to Ruling Party

Government’s claim to be leading crackdown on illegal builds hides an important fact – that such violators are often well connected to the ruling Socialist Party. rampant illegal construction, including in Tirana city centre, accusing his critics of being potentially corrupt themselves. “You that blindly raise allegations might have thousands …

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In Defence of the EU Veto

The war and Schengen enlargement have put unanimity voting in the Council of the EU to the test. But the opportunity to veto is an important guarantee of the rule of law, as it prevents the EU from turning into a federal state against the will of its members. Whenever …

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Putin’s Last Stand

The Promise and Peril of Russian Defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine was meant to be his crowning achievement, a demonstration of how far Russia had come since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991. Annexing Ukraine was supposed to be a first step in reconstructing a …

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