7 June 2013
by Marko Prelec
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By Marko Prelec, Director, Balkans Project (@mprelec) Sarajevo saw its biggest demonstration in years on the evening of Thursday, 6 June, and into the Friday morning as thousands of citizens surrounded the Bosnian capital’s parliament building and refused to allow those trapped … Continue reading
7 May 2013
by Marko Prelec
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By Marko Prelec, Balkans Project Director, @mprelec The 19 April agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is an earthquake in Balkan politics: the ground lurched, familiar landmarks toppled, the aftershocks are still rumbling and the new contours are only slowly emerging. … Continue reading
1 February 2013
by Marko Prelec
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Over the past few weeks, tensions have been growing in southern Serbia’s Albanian-majority Preševo Valley, spilling over the border into Serb majority communities in Kosovo and putting at risk the EU mediated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which looks poised to make a … Continue reading
11 July 2012
by Marko Prelec
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Seventeen years ago Serbian forces took control of the United Nations safe area of Srebrenica and over the course of the following week killed about eight thousand men and boys while expelling its entire Bosniak population. Some of the victims … Continue reading
13 February 2012
by Marko Prelec
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My Crisis Group colleagues and I drove up to Serb-held northern Kosovo on Thursday, and crossed into Serbia (briefly). In short, everything has changed, though no one has announced any change at all. The worst winter in living memory, which … Continue reading
30 November 2011
by Marko Prelec
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I recently made the mistake of questioning the Western Balkans’ European Perspective — well, not really. I was at a conference on Bosnia and I made this comment: The EU’s main tool — its “Plan A” for the Balkans — is the … Continue reading
19 September 2011
by Marko Prelec
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What country are you in, and how do you know? Until recently, the answer to that question in North Kosovo was a matter of personal choice. Serbs thought they were in Serbia. They could cross what they called the “administrative … Continue reading
16 September 2011
by Marko Prelec
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Today, 16 September, the EU and NATO have begun to implement a new custom regime between Kosovo and Serbia which is supported by the Kosovo government but rejected by Serbia and local Serbs who have set up their own roadblocks. … Continue reading
6 September 2011
by Marko Prelec
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The long-simmering dispute over the Serb-held North of Kosovo has entered a dangerous phase. Serbia and Kosovo are raising tensions in the field despite making technical agreements at the negotiation table. On 2 September the EU brokered an agreement on … Continue reading
20 May 2011
by Marko Prelec
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Albania’s second disputed election in three years threatens to push the country over the edge. Almost two weeks after local elections, preliminary results have yet to be announced. This is the time for sustained, coordinated international action to press parties … Continue reading