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NL A moment of silence for the victims of the railway station disaster in Novi Sad, Serbia
On 1 November, the roof of a train station in the Serbian city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people and seriously injuring two. Remarkably, this train station had been renovated only four months before the collapse. It suggests that this was not only a tragic accident, but also a failure of the responsible authorities. The [...]
New generation of young people at Summer School in northern Macedonia
In early July, the Max van der Stoel Foundation together with the Progres Institute organised the annual Summer School on Lake Ohrid in northern Macedonia. The 17th edition of this event was dedicated to recruiting a new generation of young political talent inside northern Macedonia. This is of great importance now that the Social Democrats in the [...]
Watch back now: debate with MEP candidates on the Western Balkans
Photo: Flags of EU Member States - Flickr On 26 May in Leiden, the FMS together with PAX, Free Press Unlimited, NHC, Dutch-Albanian Friendship Foundation and Humanitarian Intervention Committee organised a debate on EU integration of the Western Balkans! Teun Janssen (Volt), Ingeborg ter Laak (CDA), Reinout van Malenstein (NSC), Alisha Muller (VVD), Thijs Reuten (GL-PvdA) & [...]
Major concerns after Serbian election manipulation - 'Assertive EU is crucial'
Photo: The Serbian flag flies at a government building in the capital Belgrade. Source: Flickr The December 2023 Serbian elections, marked by large-scale fraud and manipulation, are a new chapter in the country's worrying development. Serbs took to the streets en masse in protest against the fraud, the uneven playing field and the overall state [...]
Marriage equality in Greece: what does it mean for the Balkans?
On 16 February, Greece made history by becoming the first Orthodox country to open marriage to same-sex couples. What is the impact of this groundbreaking move on the Balkans? We interviewed Christos Papagiannis - director of the Social Change Institute Eteron - and Dajana Bakić - president of Rainbow Rose and part [...]
Unrest in Serbia after elections and attack on LGBTIQ+ centre
Photo: The Pride centre in Belgrade after an attack in May 2023 - Wikimedia Commons It is unsettled in Belgrade, Serbia. Large-scale protests have been taking place weekly since the 17 December elections. The results are being questioned due to alleged fraud and other disturbances. In addition, the LGBTQ+ community still suffers from exclusion [...]
"Super election year 2024": what is the FMS looking forward to?
Photo: Mohamed Hassan/ PxHere 2024 is also being called the election year by political analysts. People in more than 70 countries will be allowed to cast their votes which amounts to 3.7 billion people, almost half of the total world population. Just because elections are organised does not automatically mean they are democratic. In some elections, the winner is [...]
China's growing influence in Europe's backyard
Photo: Construction of a bridge over the Morača Valley, Montenegro, as part of the Bar-Boljare highway - Wikimedia Commons China has been pushing for some time to become the new global superpower. The Belt and Road Inititave been part of this expansion drive. China is keen to expand its global footprint and [...]
EU mission to Bosnia needs not symbolic gestures, but structural change
Photo: Main street in Sarajevo - Srebrenica is still a point of polarisation in the country (created by Renée Spees) In early October, the Bosnian Serb parliament voted in favour of a bill on compulsory registration of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with foreign backers in a special register managed by the Ministry of Justice. The so-called 'foreign-agent law' provides the Republika Srpska [...]
Turkey's 'secular decline'
Photo: Statue of Atatürk looks down on a meeting of Erdogan - Wikimedia Commons Last week marked Turkey's 100th birthday. On 29 October 1923, national hero Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey, a secular state built on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. However, the celebrations have been scaled down, leaving many [...]
