Balkans

‘Bully’ Bulgaria blocks Macedonian EU ambitions

With mounting political problems at home Bulgaria’s government looks to divert attention.

The threat FETO still poses to other countries

Fetullah Gulen's terrorist organisation has made major inroads in the Balkans where those who oppose them are bullied into silence.

Genocide denial and the reaffirmation of the Serbian nationalist project

A quarter of a century after the atrocities in Bosnia, dreams of a Greater Serbia still resonate.

Was the Srebrenica genocide aimed at the wider Muslim presence in Europe?

Some analysts see a connection between today's Islamophobia and the toxic Serbian nationalism of the 1990s, which sought to erase the Muslim Bosnian presence in the Balkans.

Why are racist statues falling in the West but rising in Bosnia?

Many still believe playwright Handke did not deserve the Nobel Prize for Literature, but plans for a statue of the Austrian have now crossed the line.

Why does Islamophobia exist in Muslim-majority countries?

Growing Islamophobia is not just a phenomenon in Western Europe, in the Balkans where the continents largest number of Muslims are, it’s also a problem.

Turkey’s synagogues to re-open for prayers on Sabbath as lockdown eases

The country’s Jewish community looks forward to its first congregational prayers after months without public worship.

Has the American smile gone forever?

American civil society, undermined deliberately or unwittingly by both parties for short-term political gain or ideological satisfaction, is weaker than at any time since 1860.

Djokovic announces Balkan region series, Thiem joins

All professional tennis tours were suspended in early March and will not return before August as countries went into lockdowns and closed borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The national theatre is demolished but Albania’s civil society is unbowed

Using the cover of the coronavirus lockdown, a political elite sees an opportunity to bulldoze the opposition.

EU aims to reassure Balkans with virus aid, economic support

Delays in starting EU membership talks for Albania and North Macedonia, tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and a perception that the EU was slow to help its Balkan partners cope with Covid-19 fuel concern that they might turn toward Russia and China.

Covid-19 cases top 1.5 million worldwide – latest updates

The virus has infected more than 1,5 million people and killed over 88,000 by spreading to 209 countries and territories. Here are the latest updates for April 8: