The dispute with Greece on the constitutional name of the country has been keeping Macedonia outside the gates of the EU for too long. This situation is bound to create lasting negative effects not only for Skopje, but also for its European neighbors
Without a common European position on the status of Kosovo, EULEX judges face many challenges and paradoxes: every single judge, for example, must choose whether or not to apply the laws passed in Pristina's parliament. We have spoken to Dragomir Yordanov, a Bulgarian judge, who worked for EULEX from the deployment of the mission till the spring of 2011
After Erdogan's victory in the elections of 12 June, Turkey is entering a difficult and important constitutional-reform process. We talked with the analyst Dimitar Bechev of the European Council on Foreign Relations
Greece has not emerged from its economic crisis. If the European Union stops signing " blank cheques” in order to save Greece, many Greeks will start hoping that China soon becomes a lifebuoy to keep them afloat. In the meantime, economic relations between Athens and Bejing keep increasing at a very fast pace, even if relations between the two countries has some friction
At the beginning of April, through the pages of the British daily 'The Guardian', he expressed very explicit criticism of the work of the European mission and the International Civilian Office in Kosovo. A point of view to be kept in mind, considering that Andrea Lorenzo Capussela worked in Kosovo, until Spring 2011 precisely for ICO. Our interview
They won't be there, at Eurovision 2011. But their piece, called 'Euro Song', is already on everybody's lips. They are the Dubioza Kolektiv who want to to talk about Europe. And their efforts have been rewarded.
Although Bulgaria and Romania have met the technical requirements, Bucharest and Sofia will indefinitely remain outside of the Schengen area. A long list of unresolved issues with the two Balkan countries provides substantial reasons for exclusion, but the main problem seems to lie in the increasing fragility of the European political project
In the open crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the international community must avoid the trap of a head-on collision, bringing the European integration process back to the forefront of the political debate. In a Bosnia with no High Representative
The political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's European path and the attempts at much-needed constitutional reform. Our interview with Paola Pampaloni, Head of the BiH Unit of the European Commission's Enlargement Directorate
The five point star has returned to European coins over twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Slovenia has just issued a million coins for two euro dedicated to a legendary partisan commander, Franc Rozman
In the Balkans the era of bloody conflicts is over. But instead of proceeding along the difficult path of dialogue, many are scrambling to raise walls to keep the "other" at a safe distance. And even the European Union doesn't seem immune from such temptations. A comment
A nervous look at the documents, searching for a Schengen visa. Then a smile. The visa is no longer needed. The first trip from Tirana to Rome after Albania obtained visa liberalization. A report
They say all roads lead to Rome. Even that of Mussa Khan and the thousands of Afghan muhajirins for whom Italy is just a stop in the restless and tormented search for a better life. Among the building sites along the Ostiense Station stops the story of a journey that has no end
For the first time since 1974, the turkish Cypriots of Nicosia demonstrated against some of Ankara's austerity measures. Turkey's furious reaction is fuelling further tensions on the island, bringing to the forefront the problem of its reunification - one of Erdoğan's ambitions - and the weak role of the European Union
Can parallels be drawn between the extraordinary events involving many Arab countries and what happened in Eastern Europe in 1989? The question is open for debate, but is certainly a chance for (re)thinking the common Mediterranean space. A comment
The election in Kosovo was expected to produce a strong government, capable of entering into new negotiations with Serbia and restarting the economy. Instead, election irregularities and the criminal allegations against Hashim Thaci make the job of the new government very difficult
In the last decade, Romania has been a reliable source for seekers of bad news for the international media. Nevertheless, through the thicket of bad news, the country has also seen some brighter developments in the economy, in politics and in human development
After the European Commission recently included Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the so-called “white list” of Schengen, Kosovo remains the last territory in the Balkans whose citizens must get a visa to travel to countries in the Schengen Area
The number of migrants arriving in northern Greece from Turkey has risen dramatically in 2010. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Greek officials should immediately transfer migrants from overcrowded and inhumane detention sites and protect the unaccompanied migrant children
According to several reports, the criminal organizations in the Balkans are strenghtening their positions and diversifying their activities. The "Balkan routes", traditionally used to smuggle heroin towards Western Europe, are increasingly used to smuggle cocaine and for human trafficking operations. From Bright magazine
The European dream is strongly rooted in the imagination of Albanian young generations. Tirana's twenty-somethings, who grew up during the identity crisis of the nineties, are sure: Albania's future is in Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen as the solution to every problem, while few question the possible impact of integration in a country that, so far, remains isolated
Ancona, Italy. Here is the “Europe” dreamed of by Mussa Khan. Here too, though, welcoming the muhajirins are metal fences and procedures that make applications for asylum a runaway and distant prospect
In Igoumenitsa the muhajirins dream of Europe. It does not matter if they are there already: for them, the one that counts is on the other side of the Adriatic. Here Mussa Khan too, as many before him, tries his hand with fate.
Leader of the Turkish feminist movement, Fätmagül Berktay has defended the right to university even for those wearing the veil. “The Kemalist constitution let us move forward in society, but it had no effect on domestic violence, widespread in any class and ethnicity. The EU would make us stronger”. Our interview
The novel "Ali and Nino" tells about the love between an Azerbaijani and a Georgian teenager. Depicted as symbols of Asia and Europe, they meet in the Caucasus and there can be united. Almost one century after Ali and Nino was published, can the Caucasus be European and can it be united?
Athens. The place where democracy was born hides a dark and painful side: it is the streets and squares where the muhajirins live illegally, waiting for a future that never comes. A black hole that swallows lives and destinies, where Mussa Khan seems to have gotten lost
Half of the migrants resident in Italy comes from Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans, and non-EU Eastern Europe, not to mention those from Central Europe. But who lives where? Exclusively for Osservatorio sui Balcani e Caucaso, an analysis of the main communities by macro-region
Victims of conflicts that do not concern them, like the hoary one between Greece and Turkey, which has left a mortal trail of mines along the border of the Evros. Even when they get to the long desired Hellenic land, however, the muhajirins find a country in the midst of an economic crisis, less and less willing to offer them protection and grant them asylum
Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece. Three separate nations united by the Evros-Meriç-Maritsa, today the last door for the muhajirins attempting to land in Europe. Maybe Mussa Khan has already passed here, but more and more of his traveling companions are losing their lives in the dark meanders of the river
Istanbul: connection between two continents, Asia and Europe. Where refugees like Mussa Khan are obliged to pass, especially now that the routes of the muhajirins have shifted towards North. Here, their destiny crosses with the contradictions hovering between economic development and denied rights
