The Balkan Chronicle

Ethnic Albanians flee poverty after EU visa move

The EU's decision to drop visa requirements for Macedonia on 19 December 2009 has led to a mass exodus of ethnic Albanians from the war-impoverished region of Likove to Belgium. Nobody is entirely sure how many have fled. But the schools are emptying. Entire families have sold their possessions, uprooted, and purchased the €100 one-way bus ticket to Belgium.

The promise of better life, of opportunity, has lured hundreds to an enterprise doomed to failure.

"Better to sleep in a bus station in Brussels than here in Likove," said one villager.

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Amnesty Slams Bosnia's Republika Srpska for Rapes

Rights group Amnesty International is calling on Bosnia-Herzegovina's Republika Srpska to make reparations for survivors of wartime rape.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the rights group says Bosnian Serb authorities have not made any meaningful attempt to understand or address the needs of the victims.

John Dalhulsen, Amnesty's program director for Europe and Central Asia, says "the cruel failure to ensure justice for survivors of wartime sexual violence must at last be brought out of the shadows if the survivors themselves are to rebuild their lives and their families."

He says that "justice for survivors requires both the prosecution of perpetrators and the acknowledgement of — and resolve to redress — the consequence of their abuse."

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Bosnia: Massive Administration, Insufficient Funds

Every hour, the Bosnian administration spends half a million euros, making it the most expensive government in Europe. Still, each attempt at sustainable reform is paralyzed by politics.

Even now that Bosnia has secured the next tranche of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, there will still be insufficient funds to cover the country’s administrative expenses.

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Montenegro votes with EU talks and economy top issues

Montenegro votes to choose a government that will lead European Union entry talks for the tiny Balkans country in the grip of a deep economic crisis.

Polling stations opened at 7 am (0500 GMT) but only a handful of voters braved the rain and the cold on the autumn day in the capital Podgorica.

The ruling centre-left coalition led by the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), led by veteran politician Milo Djukanovic, called the elections six months before the official end of its mandate after the EU opened accession talks in June.

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Greek police clash with angry shopkeepers in Athens

Greek riot police fought a group of Athens businessmen who tried to prevent a tax inspection on their shops, officials said on Thursday, highlighting the resistance the government faces in cracking down on the country's endemic tax evasion.

Four policemen were hospitalized with minor injuries after a group of about 50 protesters threw stones, set fire to garbage bins and hurled two firebombs at them in the rundown Athens suburb of Agia Varvara, a police official said.

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Bosnians elect their first hijab-wearing mayor

When Amra Babic walks down the streets of the central Bosnian town of Visoko wearing her Muslim headscarf, men sitting in outdoor cafes instantly rise from their chairs, fix their clothes and put out their cigarettes.

The respect is only natural: Babic is their new mayor.

The 43 year-old economist has blazed a trail in this war-scarred Balkan nation by becoming its first hijab-wearing mayor, and possibly the only one in Europe. Her victory comes as governments elsewhere in Europe debate laws to ban the Muslim veil, and Turkey, another predominantly Islamic country seeking EU membership, maintains a strict policy of keeping religious symbols out of public life.

For Babic, the electoral triumph is proof that observance of Muslim tradition is compatible with Western democratic values.

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Bosnia: A Country in a Coma

Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment is in a serious political crisis, to the point that it could be compared to a comatose state. Since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement in 1995, there have been more or less important crises, but today's is by far the biggest. There has been no progress on the Euro-Atlantic path from the second half of the last government's term (2006-2010), but rather constant setbacks. The last step was taken in 2008, with the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. Stagnation has increased under the government ushered in by the parliamentary elections of 2010.

I believe that the cause of all that is the failure of the so-called "April package" of constitutional amendments. Since then, the international community has stepped out of the decision-making process. The leaders of different political parties continue to act only on a national [ethnic] basis, and in recent years have clearly demonstrated that they cannot agree, and often do not even want to, because the introduction of European legislation puts them at a disadvantage. Their goal is to keep Bosnia in a state of disorder as long as possible, because this is the only way political leaders, under the guise of defending alleged national interests, can remain in power. Bosnia was way ahead in the process of approaching the EU, but in a very short time it ended up at the bottom of the race on a regional level.

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In Turkey women still awaiting full freedom to use headscarf

Rights advocates complain that hopes for headscarved women to run in elections and work in state offices have been shelved for many years, and they will possibly remain on the shelf for some time to come despite earlier pledges by the government to take urgent steps to address the two issues.

Rights groups are heartbroken because politicians are currently discussing a large number of issues, including a proposal to reduce the age requirement for deputy eligibility, but a de facto ban on the headscarf remains untouched. The groups say the government should include headscarved women in its ongoing efforts to root out discrimination in society.

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Macedonian minister looking for certified geniuses

Macedonia's health minister is looking for assistants — but they have to be certified geniuses.

Nikola Todorov's ministry announced Thursday that it needs seven to 10 advisers, to consult once or twice a month for a daily fee of 3,000 to 5,000 denars (€50-80, $64-100).

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Why corruption will last in Romania

This summer has shown up the nature of Romania's entire political class.

Early this summer, there were signs that this would be a good summer for Romania.

A former prime minister, Adrian Năstase, a man recognised even by party colleagues as one of Romania's most corrupt politicians, had just received a two-year prison sentence. A government that had been completely unable to curb the corruption rampant among the political elite was removed from power. Several of the most controversial ex-ministers had resigned or had been forced to resign after their parties had lost local elections in early June by a large margin. The new prime minister – a smart young man – had nominated a number of well-known experts and public personalities as his advisers. The transition government was led, for the most part, by people with good records. All in all, it looked much better than previous governments.

What followed was a surprise even for the most sceptical of us.

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