Civil society

Bosnia and Herzegovina, experiments in deliberative democracy

01/10/2022 -  Serena Epis

An assembly of citizens in BiH has proposed a way out of the age-old problem of constitutional reform, pending for years after the Sejdic-Finci ruling of 2009. An interview with Nenad Stojanovic

"Novi Sad on water", concrete and protests along the Danube

22/09/2022 -  Marco Ranocchiari

After Belgrade, Novi Sad. The new urban plan threatens the banks of the Danube and a natural area that "lets the river breathe", essential in case of flooding. The city administration continues at full speed along the concrete road

Cyprus: halloumi diplomacy

16/08/2022 -  Mary Drosopoulos Nicosia

In Cyprus, cooperating across the lines that divide Greeks and Turks is always complicated. Also thanks to EU intervention, however, halloumi cheese – one of the symbols of the island – is once again a heritage shared by the two communities

Serbia, more violence against protesters

03/08/2022 -  Antonela Riha Belgrade

The recent events in Novi Sad, where a citizens' protest against the application of the new Master Plan was severely repressed by the police and private guards, confirmed the tendency of Vucic's regime to use violence to suppress dissent

Romania: democracy without participation

22/07/2022 -  Serena EpisMaria Francesca Rita

The Resource Centre for Public Participation is an NGO that seeks to promote citizens’ participation in the decision-making process. This is particularly difficult in Romania. We interviewed director Oana Preda

Srebrenica: denial in the European public narrative

11/07/2022 -  Marco Siragusa

Almost thirty years after the genocide we are very far from starting a dialogue and a public discussion – in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Europe – on the memory of what happened in Srebrenica. An interview with Andrea Rizza Goldstein

Synergies and training are needed against SLAPP, or gag complaints

08/07/2022 -  Paola Rosà

Media expert lawyer Andrea Di Pietro positively comments on the anti-SLAPP package of the European Commission and stresses the need for training initiatives aimed at legal practitioners, to recognise and combat the gag complaints that threaten freedom of expression and the right of citizens to participate in the public debate

Alexander Langer and Bosnia: a book and an educational project

13/07/2022 -  Sabina Langer *Giulia Levi

In the 1990s Alexander Langer, a South Tyrolean politician and MEP, devoted a great deal of effort to seeking peaceful solutions to the conflict in Bosnia. His writings have now been translated into Bosnian and will be the core of meetings for young people on human rights, ecology, and activism

Digital Fortress Europe #2: Trapped in a digital surveillance system

06/07/2022 -  Kostas ZafeiropoulosJanine LouloudiNikos Morfonios

The second of a series of insights into the digital aspect of the so-called 'Fortress Europe' and of existing and potential abuses: the impact of surveillance systems on vulnerable populations, money for Frontex drones, and monitoring the movement of citizens within the European area

Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the EFJ

01/07/2022 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Quickly resolving the economic issue relating to journalists, fighting harder against SLAPPs or gag complaints, using the rule of law to improve media conditions. These are the keywords of Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)

Eastern Europe: environment and transnational activism

28/06/2022 -  Luisa ChiodiSerena Epis

Through transnational political activism, social actors contribute to deepening democratic processes on a European level, also in the environmental sector. An interview with Aron Buzogány, professor for political science at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna

Montana174: stories of mountains and cooperation

31/05/2022 -  Pietro Casa

The Montana174 project shared a series of video testimonials on how the support of the European Union through cohesion policies has made a difference for many who live in the mountains

Cycling in the Amazon of Europe

24/05/2022 -  Marco Ranocchiari

The Amazon of Europe bike trail makes it possible to cycle over 1000 km along a cycle path that winds between rivers and forests, from Austria to Serbia

Femicides in Turkey: a film honours Bergen, the "Woman of Sorrow"

12/05/2022 -  Kenan Behzat Sharpe Istanbul

As violence against women continues to rise in Turkey and the government targets activist organisations seeking to prevent femicide, a blockbuster film about a slain 1980s singer is forcing the country to grapple with its past and present abuse of women’s rights

Imagining Europe

05/04/2022 -  Luisa Chiodi

Civic movements that go beyond national borders, populism, and the construction of the common European home. We talked about it with sociologist Paul Blokker, starting from what is happening with the "Conference on the Future of Europe"

North Macedonia and Kosovo: infrastructure or environment?

29/03/2022 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

The governments of Skopje and Prishtina are pushing for a new road connection between the cities of Tetovo and Prizren through the new Šar Planina park. Economic necessity or danger for the ecological balance of the area?

A conversation on surveillance in journalism

22/03/2022 -  Dimitri BettoniFederico Caruso

From the Pegasus spyware investigation to mass surveillance: a dialogue with researcher Philip Di Salvo to understand the impact of new technologies for all those involved in journalism and beyond

Greece and the war in Ukraine, between solidarity and fear

17/03/2022 -  Mary Drosopoulos Thessaloniki

After Putin's invasion, Greece has shown solidarity with both Ukraine and the many refugees who have arrived from the country in war. However, there are concerns about the possible fallout from the rift with Russia, which had longstanding and solid relations with Greece

Putin, the Russians and the Ukrainian war

11/03/2022 -  Jeremy Morris

It’s high time we recognized that the Russian people are more than their authoritarian president

Nadezhda Azhgikhina: “Let’s remember that journalism is a public good"

08/03/2022 -  EFJ

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) interviewed Nadezhda Azhgikhina, Russian journalist, director of PEN-Moscow, and former Vice-President of the EFJ. Her views on media in the ongoing war

Green networks in the Balkans

10/03/2022 -  Serena Epis

Protection of birdlife, ecological corridors that connect the Dinaric area to the Alps, sharing of good practices: the ecological association BIOM talks about its many years of experience and the creation of green networks in the region

From Norway to Romania: we want to stay in the mountains

08/03/2022 -  Davide Sighele

2022 has been proclaimed by the United Nations "International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development". For the occasion, the Euromontana association promoted an interesting survey among young European mountain people

Greece: going to jail for saving lives?

11/02/2022 -  Mary Drosopoulos Thessaloniki

Twenty-four volunteers involved in rescuing migrants and refugees at sea are on trial in Greece. A controversial case, which targets that part of Greek and European civil society committed to saving lives in the Mediterranean

Albania, civil society on the move

08/02/2022 -  Davide Sighele

In the last thirty years in Albania, only the main parties have managed to bring people to the streets to protest, with some notable exceptions. An interview with researcher Klodiana Beshku

Early childhood in Kosovo: learning from food

18/01/2022 -  Davide Sighele

Food is culture, memory but also chemistry, anthropology, mathematics. And kitchens can – and should – be the focus of the educational project of preschools. We interviewed Paola Cavazzoni, managing director of Pause Atelier dei Sapori, after her experience in Kosovo

Rights at work: together, beyond borders, is better

07/01/2022 -  Chiara Martini

Two cases – the Right2Water campaign and the protests of Ryanair pilots – show how important transnational alliances are for the affirmation of workers' rights. We talked about it with Imre Szabo, Darragh Golden, and Graham Finlay

North Macedonia and migrants, a story of solidarity

03/01/2022 -  Aleksandar Samardjiev Tetovo

In recent years, thousands of refugees and migrants have crossed North Macedonia towards the heart of the EU. Many received help from Lence Zdravkin, who transformed her home in Veles into an oasis of solidarity and comfort

Cooperation between territories to relaunch enlargement to the Western Balkans

04/01/2022 -  Serena Epis

How can the macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) facilitate enlargement to the Western Balkans? This was discussed in a webinar last October

Frontex denies ‘expelling’ migrant watchdog team from Greek border

17/12/2021

EU border agency denies forcing team from Italian-based rights watchdog to leave Greece and go back to North Macedonia, saying due process was followed – and the team had expressed a wish to return to North Macedonia

BiH as Multi-National State: Are Constituent Peoples the Crux of the Matter ?

17/12/2021 -  Joseph Marko

As long as it can control the ethnic division of society, the cartel of power, based on its negative consensus to divide and rule, has no legal-institutional incentives for inter-ethnic competition, let alone cooperation