Countdown to Slovenia’s 2017 Presidential Election
The Slovenian presidential election picked up a bit of unexpected momentum in the past ten days or so with the emergence of what seem to be the two most credible challengers to current #instapresident Borut Pahor to date. Marjan Šarec (left) and Milan Jazbec (right) are challenging president Borut Pahor this…
Serbia’s New Lesbian Prime Minister: A Symbolic Step Forward?
In Serbia, is the recent appointment of Ana Brnabic to the office of prime minister indicative of a new commitment to LGBT rights — or a smokescreen? On the evening of Thursday, June 15, news broke that Serbia would have an openly lesbian prime minister. Immediate reactions from the global LGBT community…
Putting Ideology Aside: An Unholy Alliance to Keep Croatia’s Government Alive
Croatia is (un)fortunately a small enough country not to be on the radar of the world’s major media most of the time, but what has been unfolding on the political scene in recent weeks and months has provided the public with some truly engaging political theater, resembling something between an overwrought…
Albania is Emptying at an Alarming Rate
Since the summer of 2015, the number of Albanians requesting asylum in Western Europe has risen dramatically. Although the number of asylum requests dropped during 2016, the number of people migrating illegally has continued to grow. Balkanist spoke with several Albanians in different countries and asked them why they chose…
Investigation: Serbia’s Involvement in the Macedonian Crisis
Serbian journalist and MP Miroslav Lazanski was involved in a coordinated propaganda campaign along with members of Serbia’s intelligence service, the BIA, aimed at mobilizing public support for Macedonia’s ex-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Russia in Macedonia. Lazanski describes these claims as false, and says that he was only doing his job as a…
The Migration Crisis Today: A Conversation
The Migration Crisis doesn’t make the front page quiet like it used to, but the issue continues to effect the region, and Europe at large. Just last week the European Parliament criticized its member states for having relocated just 11% of their total obligations. To take a look at the state of the migration crisis…
Playing With Fire: Using Coordinated Nationalism for Election Success in Croatia
Faced with a political maelstrom, Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic turns to the guaranteed recipe for success in the Balkans – nationalism. Hoping to conceal the failures of his government behind a scandal-ridden right-wing singer, he shows that he is made of the same cloth as many a politician before…
We Asked: What’s Next for Macedonia?
Yesterday, President Gjorgje Ivanov finally granted former opposition leader Zoran Zaev a mandate to form a new government, effectively ending a two-year political crisis. But much work remains to be done. We asked people in Macedonia about what’s next for the country, what kinds of challenges the new government is likely to…
The Key to Music Stardom: An Introduction to Slovenian Hip-Hop
Is there a recipe for how to make it in the music business in this part of the world? Slovenian hip-hop might provide some insights. It’s not often that you’ll find hip hop artists who find inspiration in Mozart and The Lord of the Flies, who listen to Pavorotti,…
On Studying Albanian in Belgrade
An intro and interview by Eno Shkëmbi. Slađana Stojiljković is a Serbian student from the city of Leskovac currently in her second year of Albanology studies at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Philology. Albanology is the study of Albanian language and culture. Most people in Belgrade probably don’t even know…
