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As war rages in Ukraine, Albanians fight for economic survival

Alice Taylor

18.03.22

While the war in Ukraine continues to rage, for thousands of Albanians it is a continual battle to feed their families and pay their bills. Their protests don’t come from a place of non-compassion, but rather a primal urge to...

The “nuclear” message from Russia to the rest of the world

Alfred Marleku

16.03.22

John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago, in a 1993 article in Foreign Affairs journal, argued that giving up nuclear weapons was "unwise" and that "a nuclear Ukraine is necessary to maintain peace between Ukraine and...

Croatia: Тhe brightest backslider caught in a loop

Zorislav Antun Petrović

14.03.22

One should not be overly optimistic because regulations make no sense unless they are implemented, and Croatia has shown time and time again that there is a long way to go from creating to implementing...

Organized crime in Serbia is a state affair

17.02.22

For the last ten years or so, Serbia has been experiencing a mutant expansion in the construction industry, a branch that, due to poor regulation and almost no control, is perfect for laundering illegally acquired...

How state-owned ESM spent millions via non-transparent contracting in Macedonia

09.02.22

While in the first half of 2021, the state-owned joint-stock company for electricity generation AD ESM (“Power Plants of North Macedonia”) concluded 6 contracts in negotiated procedures without publishing an announcement, with a total value of 9 million euros, in...

Drugs, crime, murders: The fall of Montenegro’s crime rings

04.02.22

Ivan Čadjenović Crime rings continue to smuggle and sell cocaine from Latin America to Europe, despite the consequences of the bloody war and the cracking of the encrypted application “Sky”. Has the “Sky” app ended the clan war?   Milan Radulović (51),...

Corruption in agriculture

Fitim Gashi

31.01.22

Fitim Gashi “He who sows shall reap” – is an expression that means – if you plant the seeds, you will be able to enjoy the harvest later on. But many public officials and officials in Kosovo are harvesting without sowing, by being involved in a...

Tirana: A city scarred by money laundering

Alice Taylor

28.01.22

Alice Taylor The march of the diggers, cranes, and cement mixers continues while Albanians find themselves driven out of the city. Those that remain, witness the destruction of historical monuments, playgrounds, and open areas and are powerless to prevent it.  ...

Trans people are second-order citizens, not powerful spreaders of “transgender ideology”

Elena Gagovska

27.12.21

Elena Gagovska Transgender people in Macedonia are effectively second-class citizens. The most important thing to remember is that those transphobic narratives in the country are completely wrong.   Inaccurate and transphobic narratives about transgender people...

The End of an Autocratic Era? Bulgaria’s New Regular Government

Radosveta Vassileva

22.12.21

Radosveta Vassileva 2021 marked the end of Boyko Borissov’s presence in Bulgaria’s executive as well as his dominance over the country’s parliament. However, did it dismantle Borissov’s autocracy? Far from it!   This year Bulgaria saw three parliamentary...