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Economy

The Balkans: The feast feeding Russia and Turkey’s hunger

The political tension between Kosovo and Serbia is creating a perfect environment wherein Turkey and Russia can lure the two countries into their respective spheres of influence. High-ranking US and EU envoys are trying to resolve the long-standing dispute, urging Serbia and Kosovo to normalise relations when in fact they are becoming increasingly more tense.…

Connecting emerging Europe

In many places, getting around emerging Europe remains as difficult today as it did 30 years ago. In January, in a bid to boost connectivity and economic growth in emerging Europe’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), the European Commission and the World Bank co-authored a Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)…

Stevo Pendarovski elected president of North Macedonia

Stevo Pendarovski (above, left), the candidate backed by North Macedonia’s ruling Social Democratic party, has won the country’s presidential election, taking just under 52 per cent of the vote. Opposition candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova won 44.5 per cent, with more than three per cent of ballots declared null and void.The two politicians had each received about…

China and CEE: 16+1 is here to stay

Cooperation between China and its 16 partner nations in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region has been a subject of strong criticism since its very inception in 2011. European Union institutions – and many of western EU member states – assumed that the real intention of Beijing was to divide and rule Europe through…

Life in Albania

When most people think of Albania, they probably think of the Liam Neeson film Taken. Hollywood and the media have done a very good job at painting this Western Balkan country as a hotbed of criminality and violence, but is that really the case?The short answer is no.Whilst the country struggles internally with organised crime…

Erste sees North Macedonia reaping name dispute dividend

With North Macedonia’s almost three decade-long dispute with Greece over the country’s name now over, the country can expect a period of accelerated growth in the medium-term, driven by an end to political uncertainty, consumption, and renewed investment activity, according to a new report from Erste Bank.The bank expects GDP growth of 2.9 per cent…

Fifteen years of Poland thriving in the EU

Of the 10 countries that joined the European Union 15 years ago, Poland is definitely an EU success story: it has become more outward-looking and confident as well as being socially and economically transformed. That is why 91 per cent of Poles support Poland’s membership of the EU.The 2004 European Union enlargement, which allowed Poland…

EU enlargement commissioner praises North Macedonia

European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn has suggested that North Macedonia might soon assume Serbia’s position as the leading candidate country for EU membership.“In the European Commission’s strategy for the Western Balkans, we have clearly stated that we will accept new members only if they do not have bilateral conflicts. We are…

Frontex deploys border guards to Albania to halt illegal migration

Deutsche Welle has reported that Albanian police will patrol “shoulder to shoulder” with border guards from across the EU on the country’s frontier with Greece.It will be the first-ever joint operation on the territory of a neighboring non-European Union country for Frontex, which is the EU agency in charge of border protection and immigration. Led by an Albanian team…

Thirty Fifteen

For many of the countries of emerging Europe, 2019 offers double cause for celebration: 30 years since the end of communism in 1989 and 15 years since EU membership in 2004. For all concerned, EU enlargement has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Why then, is anti-EU sentiment in Central and Eastern Europe increasingly strong?Two subjects…