Worldcrunch
Once a Muslim-majority nation, Kosovo is witnessing a quiet but growing movement of Albanians converting to Catholicism. Advocates of the shift argue they are reclaiming their ancestral faith, once suppressed under Ottoman rule. With deep historical roots and political implications, this trend is reshaping Kosovo’s religious and cultural identity — while also positioning it closer to Europe.
Once defined the most homophobic country in the Balkans, Kosovo’s queer community is now calling for more recognition and consideration from the authorities. But numerous obstacles remain.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic cooperates closely with Russia, including on security and arms issues. Now he is threatening to invade Kosovo, which Serbia does not recognize as an independent country. If Donald Trump were to win, and NATO to weaken, Vucic may be ready to move.
Tension are rising between Serbia and Kosovo, taking on an international dimension with Russia lending its support to Serbia, while NATO has long had a presence in Kosovo. There is only one real solution to such a historic feud over territory and ethnicity, and it’s called: Europe.
Europe’s leaders are in Moldova as tensions increase with Russia and in Kosovo. The summit is already making an impact as Europe pushes back against Russian interference.
As hostilities flare again between Serbia and Kosovo, the writer draws connections between the dissolutions of both the USSR and Yugoslavia, and the leaders who exploit upheaval and feed the worst kind of nationalism.
We should not be proud of of the insufficient response against the Damascus regime, but total inaction would be even worse.
PRISTINA — In front of socialist era high-rise blocks, Bill Clinton waves to the Kosovars. Kosovo Albanians built the statue in the capital, Pristina, in gratitude for the bombing of then Yugoslavia by NATO in 1999, which a few years later led to independence. U.S. and Albanian flags flutter alongside each other on the rooftops. […]
During the Tito-era of communist rule in then-Yugoslavia, agricultural workers gathered every morning, tools in hand, and waited for someone to hire them for the day.
Granted, it was the “60s — but of which century?
MORE VOLATILITY IN CHINA Chinese stocks continued to fall for a fifth consecutive day, despite the People’s Bank of China cutting its key lending rate in a bid to restore calm to the stock markets. A volatile Shanghai Composite index eventually fell by 1.3%, after rising by as much as 4.3% and dropping 3.9%. After […]
CONFLICT INTENSIFIES AHEAD OF YEMEN TRUCE The Saudi-led airstrike campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen intensified over the weekend, hours before the beginning of a negotiated five-day ceasefire that will allow humanitarian aid to reach civilians. The Houthis said this morning they had downed a Moroccan fighter jet taking part in the strikes campaign, website […]
Animosity towards immigrants is strong in Hungary. Controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban was particularly blunt during a recent television interview: “We don’t want immigrants in our country.” But it was also notable that Orban was speaking from Paris, where he participated in the Jan. 11 unity march after Islamist terrorists murdered members of the magazine […]
After being arrested by French police during a school field trip, then deported with her family to Kosovo, 15-year-old Leonarda has become a symbol of Roma everywhere.
PRISTINA – Before General Xavier Bout de Marnhac can walk up to the second floor of the Gagi restaurant in the center of Kosovo’s capital, his security escort must inspect the premises. This is standard procedure. The French general, whom we were meeting only a few hours before he was leaving Kosovo, is the outgoing […]
A Bosnian Serb who fled the Balkans as a teenager reflects on how hard it is to face the past in the Balkans, as much for history’s winners as losers.