Ardiana Duke watches as police evict her home, expecting them to enter the house any minute. (c) Brisilda Taco

Ardiana Is Thrown Out of Her Home

A few days ago, police evicted and razed a Roma settlement in Tirana. According to activists the inhabitants were left with nothing but what they could carry.

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Prishtina. (c) Marco Fleber at flickr.com under CC license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Real Heroes of Kosovo

Official historiography in Kosovo and Serbia alike remembers the respective nation’s soldiers who fought in the Kosovo war of 1999. Many of these „war heroes“ are or have been charged with war crimes. Some have been convicted. The stories of the real heroes of Kosovo would be all but forgotten were it not for Amnesty International, The Guardian and Balkanist.

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Ein weißer Knopf kehrt zurück

Es wird das größte Ereignis in der Balkanmusikszene Wiens des heurigen Jahres: Bijelo Dugme ist zurück. Am 5. März gastiert die Revival-Tournee der wahrscheinlich erfolgreichsten jugoslawischen Rockband in der Pyramide Vösendorf.

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Kada ćeš se povući, Hasane?

Zlatko Hasanbegović, Croatian Minister of Culture, is dragged ever deeper into the quagmire of neofascism he created for himself. A new video has surfaced that appears to corroborate previous media revelations about his sympathies with the Ustaša regime and his involvement with neofascist groups.

„Kada ćeš se povući, Hasane?“ weiterlesen

Memories of A Golden Moment

It was Sarajevo’s Golden Moment. The opening of the Olympic Winter Games in 1984 marked an era of prosperity and made the world take notice of this unique city so rich in culture and tolerance. Today, most sports sites are in ruins. Sarajevo photographer and artist Majda Turkić captured the melancholy of the memory of Sarajevo’s Golden Moment on Mount Trebević, site of the Olympic Bob Track, in a photo essay for Balkan Stories Blog.

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The Teflon Man

Zlatko Hasanbegović, Croatian Minister of Culture, seems to be made of teflon. More than a week after being exposed as a neofascist he is still in power. There are no indications he intends to resign anytime soon. Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković has shown no inclination to dismiss his most controversial cabinet member.

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σας ευχαριστώ

Emilia Kamvisi and Stratis Valamios, 85 year old pensioner and the 40 year old fisherman from the Greek island of Lesbos, have been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace 2016.

This isn’t exactly news but I only came across the video a couple of days ago and couldn’t help sharing it.

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Shadows From The Past

The scandal around openly fascist statements made by Croatian Minister of Culture Zlatko Hasanbegović sheds new light on Croatian society’s struggle to deal with the country’s past and the genocide committed against Serbs, Jews and Gypsies by its fascist regime in World War Two. Many still rever the Ustaše and have no problem showing it.

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Eine Reise in Skizzen

Der kroatische Fotograf Damir Rajle aus Osijek hat einen persönlichen Bildband über seine Heimat Slawonien veröffentlicht. Möglich wurde das aufwändige Projekt namens „Skizzen aus Slawonien“ durch eine Kooperation mit dem deutschen Verlag danube books in Ulm, dessen Programm einen Balkan- und Ungarnschwerpunkt hat.

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Der österreichische Ivo Andrić. Beinahe.

Heute jährt sich der Geburtstag von Bert Brecht. Der gebürtige Augsburger wäre beinahe zur österreichischen Version von Ivo Andrić geworden.

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This Is Who You Want To Send Soldiers Against

 

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and Austrian Minister of Defense, Hans Peter Doskozil, have announced they are considering an Austrian military mission along the Balkan refugee route. This announcement made on Friday marks an escalation in the already precarious situation for refugees in the Balkans.

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Das andere Österreich

Nach einem Herbst der Gastfreundlichkeit überbietet sich die heimische Politik in Überlegungen, wie sie Flüchtlinge abschrecken oder wenigstens zurückweisen kann. Für tausende freiwillige Helferinnen und Helfer ist das ein Schlag in die Magengrube. Entmutigen lassen sie sich nicht. Einer, der weitermachen will, ist Renato Čiča von der Bürgerinitiative „We HELP Refugees“.

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