In the spotlight: in the Balkans, those who support Ukraine and those who remain silent

US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby in Washington on January 24, 2022. (Illustrative image) AP - Manuel Balce Ceneta

Text by: Courrier des Balkans Follow |

Florentin Cassonnet

3 mins

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While Russia is massing its troops on the Ukrainian border, the Western Balkan countries are not in unison on the reaction to have in the event of an escalation of the conflict, between support for Kiev and embarrassed silence.

North Macedonia lent its support to Ukraine and Kosovo made its security forces “ 

 ”.

In Croatia, discord reigns at the top of the state.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the tripartite presidency does not have a common position.

As for the Montenegrin and Serbian institutions, they prefer not to express themselves.

“ 

 On February 2, the spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, announced the

a country neighboring Ukraine, specifying that this deployment " 

 ".

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has been calling for a " 

" for several years .

But the announcement of this deployment comes mainly in response to Russia's demand that NATO troops withdraw from the countries of Eastern Europe.

Russia also denounces the existence of the Deveselu anti-missile "shield" in southern Romania.

Record inflation in Turkey: “an end-of-reign economic crisis” for Erdogan

Turkey is going through a deep economic crisis and inflation reached 36% in 2021, gradually eating away at household purchasing power.

President Erdogan is seeking to trigger a revival, but the business environment has been affected by the authoritarian drift of recent years.

For the economist Deniz Akagül, this crisis is above all that of the end of a reign.

A year after the start of the #metoo movement in Greece, a first trial for a rape case brought by a young athlete against her trainer is pending.

Other procedures will follow.

but resistance persists.

Prostitution is a taboo subject in Croatia, everything related to it is stigmatized, including academic research.

This prevents having the data needed to implement effective public policies.

Ivana Radačić's work shows that the criminalization of sex work is counterproductive and endangers the women who practice it, because they find themselves alone in the face of a system that criminalizes them and therefore cannot denounce the violence.

.

“No one wants Republika Srpska in Kosovo”

Gabriel Escobar and Miroslav Lajčak are on

the American envoy and the EU envoy wishing to show that Brussels and Washington have the same vision of the process.

But not much is progressing.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti are far from getting along, the latter still refusing to set up the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo.

" 

 ," assured Miroslav Lajčak, but that was not enough to allay fears on the Kosovar side.

Tirana is growing to lose its soul.

Construction machinery disfigures Tirana, historic buildings and green spaces disappear, while real estate prices soar, forcing the less well-off to leave the capital.

Fueled by money laundering, the bubble may burst one day.

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• Newspaper

• Russia

• Ukraine

• North Macedonia

• Kosovo

• Croatia

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Montenegro

• Serbia

• Romania

• United States

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