Stories from Quick Reads and Kosovo
Balkans-EU: Schengen's leftouts and letins
Eberhard Rhein of BlogactivEU writes about the EU's plans for visa deregulation to Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Gray Falcon presents some critical views from the perspective of Serbia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Albanian Blogger gives his version on why also Albania is left out.
The Balkans: Agim Ceku
A Fistful of Euros writes about Agim Ceku and his arrest and release in Bulgaria last week.
Kosovo: The Language Issue
The Unforgiving Minute writes about “the language issue” in Kosovo.
Kosovo, Ukraine, Russia: Social Media and Politics
Blogging Balkanistan writes that Kosovo’s PM Hashim Thaci is planning to join Facebook and that “several leading opposition party candidates already have accounts.” Petro's Jotter explores the Ukrainian political Twitter-sphere, here and here. Siberian Light explains how to connect with Twitter users interested in Russia. Window on Eurasia believes that...
Kosovo: First Anniversary of Independence
Blogging Balkanistan writes about Kosovo's first anniversary of independence.
Kosovo: First Anniversary of Independence
Cafe Turco congratulates Kosovo on the first anniversary of independence.
Middle East, Balkans: Comparing the Conflicts
Marko Attila Hoare and Jasmin Ademovic discuss at Greater Surbiton whether “Israel today [is] like Serbia in the 1990s.”
The Balkans: Urbanization
The Unforgiving Minute writes about urban development in the Balkans and elsewhere.
The Balkans: Harold Pinter and Milosevic
Marko Attila Hoare of Greater Surbiton writes about Harold Pinter's association with the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and explains why he feels “roughly as sad about Pinter’s death as Pinter was sad about the deaths of the tens of thousands killed by Milosevic or for the hundreds of...
Central & Eastern Europe: Freedom in the Balkans; Visa Restrictions
Ari Rusila examines the Balkan-related results of the Freedom House's Freedom in the World survey at AriRusila’s BalkanBlog, and writes about the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, highlighting the results for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at AriRusila's BalkanPerspective at Blogactiv.eu.
The Balkans: Yugo
Balkan File and Eternal Remont are saying good-bye to the Yugo cars; the latter posts this joke: “Q: So, what do you call the shock absorbers inside a Yugo? A: Passengers.”
Former Yugoslavia: “Black Wave”
Popkitchen writes about the Yugoslav “black wave” film of the 1960s.
Kosovo: Haradinaj's Profile; Discussion at LSE
Popkitchen posts a critique of a Vanity Fair profile of Ramush Haradinaj, a former guerrilla leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and former prime minister of Kosovo, and writes about a recent discussion on Kosovo's independence held at the London School of Economics.
The Balkans: Tragic Legacy
Cafe Turco writes on the inaccuracies in Resolution 819 film and posts a translation of Hasan Nuhanović's article that challenges “the veracity of some scenes.” Srebrenica Genocide Blog writes on a recent exhumation of “50 complete and 883 partial human remains of Srebrenica genocide victims” and links to a documentary...
Central & Eastern Europe: A Roma Roundup
A few Roma-related posts: Inside Albania muses on the U.S. election and concludes that having a Roma PM in Albania will remain “pure fantasy” for quite a while; Romano Them links to a report on the situation with the Roma in Kosovo; Hungarian Spectrum reported on Nov. 20 that “[i]n...
Serbia, U.S.: Bloggers on Obama's Victory
Belgraded posts a roundup of Serbian bloggers’ reactions to Obama's victory.
Serbia: Asylum Seekers
At Belgraded, a rather heated discussion of Serbian asylum seekers: their true numbers, origins and political views.
The Balkans: Against “Balkanization”
Hudin thinks it's time to stop using the word “Balkanization”: “Of course we don't say USSRization, Czechoslovakization, British Empirization, or even Austro-Hungarization. No, we say Balkanization and we say it too much.”
The Balkans: Subotica Mosque; Balkan Muslims
Kakanien Revisited writes about the new mosque of Subotica, the first one in Serbia's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, “built with funds from Novi Pazar […] and Turkey.” The 8th Circle jots down notes on the Balkan Muslims from a recent Reuters piece.
Kosovo, South Ossetia: Recognition Score
A Fistful of Euros writes about international recognition of Kosovo vs that of South Ossetia, and explains why it is likely that Kosovo will soon be recognized by Montenegro.
The Balkans: Food
Dr. Filomena posts pictures and writes about the wonderful culinary dimension of travel to Slovenia's “southern cousins” in “the ex Yugoslav republics and autonomous provinces.”