Economy

Greece leaves bailout programmes: “And now, what’s going to happen to us without barbarians?"

29/08/2018 -  Elvira Krithari Athens

What is going to happen in Greece without external financial help is yet to be seen. Regardless of what the government and the opposition affirm, the financial crisis is not over

Azerbaijan: white gold, black labour

28/08/2018 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

After the global decline in oil prices, Azerbaijan is trying to differentiate its economy betting on cotton industry. In Soviet times the “white gold” was one of the biggest exports of Azerbaijan, today is caracterized by huge violations of workers' rights

Armenia: there is no workplace in the village

08/08/2018 -  Armine Avetisyan Yerevan

According to the State Employment Agency, more than 82,000 people are currently looking for jobs in Armenia. The number of unemployed in rural areas is 18.3% of the total, which increased by 26.6% compared to the same period last year

Croatia: agriculture and fisheries at the time of the EU

29/06/2018 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Two important sectors for the country, two important EU policies with which Zagreb has had to deal – not always with the best outcome, due to lack of preparation and poor management of negotiations

Croatian citizens are indifferent about the EU

26/06/2018 -  Sven Milekić Zagreb

Paul Stubbs, British sociologist at the Institute of Economics in Zagreb, lives in Croatia for 25 years and claims, supported by figures, that Croatia did not benefit the EU membership, while its citizens remain indifferent on the issue

Turkey, Economy and Elections

22/06/2018 -  Dimitri Bettoni Istanbul

The economy will play a key role in the Turkish elections on Sunday 24 June. We discussed the current economic situation and its future perspectives with Professor Gül Günver Turan, president of the "Turkey - European Union" Association, retired professor of Economics at the University of Istanbul

Croatia: emigration, European funds, and beers

21/06/2018 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Some leave and never want to come back, some – although the country is not fully ready yet – use EU funds to create new artisanal businesses, such as the production of craft beers

The working elderly — why in Azerbaijan ‘nobody wants to retire’

15/06/2018 -  Kamran Mahmudov

Elderly people in Azerbaijan are often seen working well beyond the age of retirement, often in hard physical jobs. The government has tried to celebrate this, claiming that no one wants to retire in Azerbaijan, but others point out that low state pensions give many no other choice

Connecting Western Balkans to the European Union

17/05/2018 -  Gentiola Madhi*

In the last few years, "connectivity" has been one of the keywords of the process of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. An analysis

The numbers of the Eu enlargement

17/05/2018

The EU-Western Balkans summit, held on May 17 in Sofia, was conceived to restore momentum to the European perspective of the region. But what are the cultural, institutional and economic relations that already link the member countries and those of the Western Balkans? This video, realized within the EDJNet project, presents some figures on the flows to and from the countries of the region.

The Romanian “slaves” behind the Sicilian tomatoes

15/05/2018 -  Iulia Badea Guéritée

Hundreds of migrant women moved from Romania to Sicily in order to work, but they are now reduced to a sort of contemporary slaves. The issue has been brought to the European Parliament, where many politicians are urging the EU to intervene

Sardinia: shepherds of Romania

19/07/2018 -  Francesca Rolandi

They mostly come from the Romanian region of Moldova, and since the early 2000s they have migrated to Sardinia, where they are employed in the agro-pastoral sector. A phenomenon analysed by anthropologist Sergio Contu

Dossier: Freedom of the press in Bulgaria

03/05/2018 -  Nicola PedrazziFazıla MatValentina Vivona

Dangerous entanglements between media, politics and business in the country in charge of the Presidency of the Council of the EU

Enjoying retirement in Albania

05/04/2018 -  Nicola Pedrazzi

The Italian retired community is growing across the Adriatic. To understand the phenomenon we interviewed Roberto Laera, an entrepreneur with decades of experience in the country

Armenia’s female councillors were abused for challenging the patriarchal political system

20/03/2018 -  Anna Nikoghosyan

On 13 February, female councillors from Armenia’s women-led opposition party Yerkir Tsirani were attacked, physically and sexually, during a Yerevan City Council session. The women were later blamed for the attack

Europe and microcredit

28/03/2018 -  OBCT

Ethical finance is no longer a niche phenomenon, and neither is microcredit. The characteristics of the latter, however, vary widely between eastern and western Europe

Discovering the Apennines, discovering Albania

13/03/2018 -  Nicola Pedrazzi

A group of Albanian farmers explored the Reggio Apennines in search of useful solutions for the north of Albania. We tagged along in this "study-trip" organised by a local NGO

Welcome to ‘hell’: working on a Georgian railway construction site

06/03/2018 -  Luka Pertaia

Railway construction in central Georgia is a key part of ambitious plans to modernise Georgia’s infrastructure. Despite warnings from trade unions and official inspectors, life for the workers remains a ‘living hell’

Cycling in the city: Ljubljana takes inspiration from the Dutch model

26/02/2018 -  Lucia Bruni

Ljubljana is among the most accessible European capitals for cycling, and among the cities which have invested most in this mode of transport. An interview with Lea Ružič, president of the Ljubljana Cyclists Network

Plitvice lakes in danger

09/02/2018 -  Giovanni Vale Zagreb

Tourism, traffic, pollution, and constructions. Plitvice, today, no longer rhymes with transparent waters and uncontaminated nature. And the lakes risk to be removed from the UNESCO heritage list

China goes to Serbia: infrastructure and politics

23/01/2018 -  Francesco Martino

Serbia increasingly appears as a central hub in the Balkans for the Chinese-led "Belt and Road Initiative", both at an infrastructural and a political level. We discussed about it with Dragana Mitrović (University of Belgrade)

Turkey, the price of neoliberalism

12/01/2018 -  Francesco Brusa

Tax-free zones where workers are denied trade union protection, authoritarian trends, experiences of resistance that emerge in the suburbs of large cities. Turkish development in an interview with researcher Luca Manunza

Rural Albania, the bet of those who stay

09/01/2018 -  Francesco Martino Mërtur

Wild, untamed mountains, poverty, and massive depopulation. In the villages of northern Albania, some resist the temptation to escape to the city and hope for a new beginning, made of sustainable rural development and alternative tourism. Our report

Georgia: a mountain woman

04/01/2018 -  Tekle Kveladze

The story of Mariam Kochashvili, 21, shepherd at her village in the Pshavi mountains and student of the last year of medicine in the capital

China in the Balkans, "firmly in play in the coming years"

28/11/2017 -  Francesco Martino

Chinese presence in the Balkans is rapidly growing, mainly through its "Belt and Road Initiative" - the new Silk road linking East and West - which brings opportunities but also risks to the region. An interview with the financial analyst Jens Bastian

‘I will not go back’ — The Syrians making a new life in Armenia

13/11/2017 -  Armine Avetisyan

Over 17,000 Syrian-Armenians have fled to Armenia over the past five years. While many expected this to be a temporary move, they are now setting down firm roots in the country

Go East: home is where joy is

25/10/2017 -  Lidija Pisker Sarajevo

More and more professionals from the Western Balkans choose to seek a better life by going east – opting for countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland

Meet the new Greek craftswomen

18/10/2017 -  Elvira Krithari

After ten years of economic crisis, many women in Greece have begun to explore alternatives to make their living, revaluing traditional handicraft activities from the previous decades

The Balkans: an increasingly popular tourist destination

28/08/2017 -  Lorenzo Ferrari

Where new developments in European tourism are concerned, the substantial and steady growth of the Balkans as a destination for vacations and travel is one of the most significant trends in recent years

Ukraine, the amber republic

14/08/2017 -  Oleksiy Bondarenko

Some of the world's largest amber deposits are located on Ukrainian territory. Extraction is in the hands of criminal organisations, and institutions are hesitant or connivant – meanwhile, the environment is devastated