Balkans related content 

Malmström visits Pristina, launches talks expected to take years. Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for home affairs, has launched talks that could lead...

A delicate understanding of national identity in the Balkans helped Kiro Gligorov keep Macedonia out of the Balkan wars. Angelina Jolie's new film, “In the Land of Blood...

A speedy appointment in Skopje, less so in Pristina. The appointment of heads of the EU's offices in Skopje (Macedonia) and Pristina (Kosovo) is imminent, with shortlisted...

Recommending a book arguing that the EU places too much emphasis on non-governmental organisations in the Balkans yet also turns them into mere project managers. Behind the...

The EU's record of resolving conflicts has a big blot, Cyprus. Over the years, in the absence of a common foreign and security policy worthy of the name, the European Union...

Testing the value of two hoary old clichés about the importance of keeping the European Union engaged in the western Balkans. Just because something is a...

Three books examine the complex system of war-crimes tribunals in the Balkans and further afield. Last June, the European Union's member states decided to proceed with...

Van Rompuy's whistlestop tour. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, made a whistlestop trip to the Balkans this week: Montenegro and Macedonia on...

Like the UN's mission before it, Eulex has yet to bring to book those involved in politically motivated crimes in Kosovo. When it comes to international engagement with...

Recent drug-seizures and arrests reinforce the image of the Balkans as lawless badlands. But the countries in the region are getting tough on crime. Herman Van Rompuy, the...

Officials to discuss Iran, Middle East peace process and the western Balkans. Senior officials from Turkey and the European Union will meet in Istanbul on Tuesday (13 July)...

Engagement in the western Balkans shows that Turkey is not turning towards a more Islamic agenda. Future historians of reconciliation in the western Balkans could do worse...

EU-Mediterranean summit cancelled, while EU-western Balkans summit downgraded. Before taking up the rotating presidency of the EU's Council of Ministers in January, Spain...

A gradual overhaul of Bosnia's institutions would be more effective than sporadic diplomacy to change Bosnia's constitution. The widespread perception in the EU is that,...

The EU's decision to lift visa restrictions for citizens of three countries of the former Yugoslavia is a major step forward. This weekend the European Union will do...

The EU must continue the ‘political de-mining' of the Balkans and use lessons learnt there to develop its foreign-policy role. For two decades, the western Balkans has...

To be healthy, the Balkans and China need not just to know their past, but also to transcend it. A nation's relationship with its past is crucial to its present and its...

Why do EU states choose the UN or NATO over the EU's own security mechanism? Here is an invaluable book for those seeking to grasp this slippery topic. Ten years ago, the...

Swiss journalist Vicken Cheterian is able to get under the skin of the Caucasus – a complex and often violent area. The Caucasus lies on the periphery of western Europe's...

Bosnia and Herzegovina has failed to implement the reforms that would allow EU member states to drop visa requirements early next year, according to diplomats and...