2023 is a crucial election year in Turkey, which celebrates the centenary of the birth of the Republic. While the country, plagued by record inflation, is experiencing a catastrophic economic situation, power and opposition agree to put “identity” issues such as the veil back at the center of the debate. A strategy that could well benefit the very conservative Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkey has also just sign a crucial agreement on gas with Bulgaria, which could also benefit the rest of the Balkans. Since last spring, Gazprom, which covered three-quarters of the country’s consumption, has suspended deliveries to Sofia.
Croatia: with the euro, prices soar
On January 1, the euro became the official currency in Croatia. Since, consumer complaints are on the rise against the countless increases in daily products. In the face of popular outrage, the government promised an urgent response.
In Serbia, the government continues to praise its economic policy and in particular the low debt. However, the public debt is already far too heavy for a country that borrows at very high rates on the world markets. Not to mention the credits granted in complete opacity by China or the United Arab Emirates. Cross analysis.
In Kosovo, the lifting of the barricades did not change anything
The lifting of the barricades in the north of Kosovo has not solved the crisis which has lasted for months between Belgrade and Pristina. Faced with this strategy of the worst, the population is trapped. The explanations of a civil society activist based in Mitrovica, the city that symbolizes the divisions between Serbs and Albanians.
Charged with rape and human trafficking and remanded in custody, the Tate brothers would have been helped by two Romanians, who were also arrested. A case that reminds us that Romania is known to be a breeding ground for sex slaves.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chechens’ new gateway to Europe?
More and more Chechens are trying to reach the European Union through Bosnia and Herzegovina. As citizens of the Russian Federation, they can travel there without a visa. These men are fleeing forced mobilization for war in Ukraine.
An ornithologist who pushes back the government of Albania, a Turkish baker who defies Sultan Erdoğan, a transgender activist from Kosovo, a prisoner of conscience in Tiraspol, a courageous journalist in Serbia, a woman who is prevented from having an abortion in Croatia, others fighting for health in North Macedonia and Romania… Discover our heroes and heroines of the year 2022 in the Balkans.