A crucial election in Serbia, escalating protests in Albania, bilateral disputes in the region and the costs of political deadlock in Kosovo. As BIRN’s selection of Premium stories shows, the next days, weeks and months could be pivotal for many countries across the region.
A nailbiter in Serbia
A two-year-long political and societal crisis is set to culminate in parliamentary elections set for October 25 in Serbia. But will the elections put an end to the crisis, or make it worse? In his opinion piece for Balkan Insight, Djorjde Trikos looks at how and why the tide in Serbia may be turning against the Serbian Progressive Party and its de facto leader, Aleksandar Vucic.
Our investigations and analyses also look into how the ruling party is pulling out all the stops to ensure a favourable outcome, from pressuring public sector employees to obstructing an audit of the country’s electoral roll.
New approaches to bilateral disputes
European efforts at promoting good neighbourly relations between the countries of the Balkans have yielded no end of warm words, joint statements and positive pledges. Yet in reality, the discrepancy in power dynamics between EU member states and hopeful candidates has often been detrimental to good neighbourly relations.
In her opinion piece for Balkan Insight, Marika Djolai makes the case for why a new approach is needed. Could the Berlin Process help in this regard?
Protest storm in Tirana
A wave of student protests has rocked Albania over the last week and the intensity of the clashes with police has come as a shock to many outside observers.
The protests escalated rapidly, and given that there are no clear leaders or spokespeople, it’s been difficult at times to understand what is driving the movement. So BIRN sent a reporter out onto the streets to talk with protesters to understand the reasons for their outrage.
In need of a solution
One of the few clear demands to be heard at the recent protests rocking Albania is for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. Not surprisingly, Rama has rejected such calls, arguing that only elections can decide who will govern.
Amid escalating violence, the Albanian government has fought back with a tough security response. Most observers, however, seem to believe that a political – rather than security – solution is needed to fix the country’s turmoil. Can one be found?
Clinging on
With so much else going on in the region, Russia’s efforts to shape political outcomes in the Balkans seem to have faded from media focus recently. Yet Moscow is fighting to preserve what is left of its influence in the region.
In his opinion piece for Balkan Insight, Maksim Samorukov takes a look at how Russia is supporting its favourites in the region. Moscow seems to prefer the predictable “devils it knows” to the ones who seek to replace them.
Costs of deadlock
Two years of political deadlock in Kosovo has come at a steep price. Hundreds of millions of euros of EU funding have been left dangling due to a failure to push through EU-mandated reforms, as politicians focus their energy on internal brinkmanship.
Some 40 million euros in EU funds has already been forfeited. Another 90 million euros hangs in the balance. Can Kosovo make up for lost time?
Source: balkaninsight.com
