„Balcanii produc mai multă istorie decât sunt în stare să consume’’ – spunea Winston Churchill, vorbe care și acum sunt actuale din moment ce la o sută de kilometri de România sentimentul de ură este la fel de pregnant ca în urmă cu zeci și chiar sute de ani.
Another round of discussions between Serbia and Kosovo ended inconclusively Thursday in Brussels, even as tensions between the two countries continue to spiral. The stakes are high: Violence almost erupted two weeks ago in the north of Kosovo, with local Serbs raising barricades and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warning that open conflict was imminent.
The recent gunfire, sirens and border closings between the two Balkan countries have raised alarms. Here is an explainer on the region’s complex history.
Sirens sounded for three hours in the town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo on Sunday, July 31, as Serb protesters blocked roads and shot at local authorities in the Balkan country.
Amidst escalating tension in Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said: “No matter how difficult it is, there will be no surrender, Serbia will win,” he stated.
“We do not want conflict and we do not want war,” Vucic said in his speech.
He said: We will pray for peace and seek peace, but let me tell you right away. If they dare to start persecuting, harassing and killing Serbs, Serbia will win.”
With progress still fragile and vulnerable to Russian interference, the US and EU must remain deeply engaged, advancing Euro-Atlantic integration.
International mediation was indispensable to the recent deal between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, allowing the start of EU accession talks between Skopje and Brussels.
Western discussion of the country and the Western Balkans too often focuses on stereotypes about ethnic violence and intolerance – obscuring the real achievements.
Western coverage of Balkan politics too often focuses on the region’s challenges. Often this discussion is tied up with stereotypes about intolerance or violence. These stereotypes have been called “Balkanist” by a number of regional scholars. Discussion of the region in these terms obscures its successes.
Western discussion of the country and the Western Balkans too often focuses on stereotypes about ethnic violence and intolerance – obscuring the real achievements.
Albania’s former President Ilir Meta’s return to frontline politics did not come as a surprise to anyone, but some doubt that his newly rebranded party will be able to compete successfully with well-entrenched Prime Minister Edi Rama.
he rallies against acceptance of the French proposal for lifting Bulgaria’s blockade on North Macedonia’s EU talks draw on discontent felt across the political spectrum.
A new book tells the rarely-heard stories of Kosovo Albanians who were detained in grim conditions on the Croatian island of Goli Otok (Barren Island), a prison camp for political dissidents in the former Yugoslavia.
“When I arrived there, it was a very cold day and I was taken immediately to solitary confinement in a dark and frozen cell,” said Fadil Bajraktari, recalling the day in 1984 when he was sent to a detention camp on an isolated island off the coast of Croatia.