Central & Eastern Europe Archive

People who write about international politics inevitably make a lot of incorrect predictions. It is sometimes useful to look back and ask why our prognostications were wrong. At the start of this year, I asked, “Where will international stabilization forces intervene in 2015?” My best guesses were Ukraine, Nigeria, Libya and Syria. There has been much talk about deploying peacekeepers to these war zones over the ensuing 12 months, but markedly less action. In retrospect, it seems clear that governments and international organizations have taken a cautious approach to mounting new missions in high-risk environments in 2015. But there are […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of corruption and various countries’ efforts to combat it. Last month, the European Union released its annual progress report for Montenegro, which highlighted the need for further government reforms to tackle persistent corruption. In an email interview, Vanja Calovic, the executive director of MANS, a nongovernmental organization that fights corruption and organized crime in Montenegro, discussed corruption there. WPR: How big of a problem is corruption in Montenegro, and in what areas is its impact most felt? Vanja Calovic: Montenegro has been guided by the same […]

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to Kosovo last week was literally a “flying visit”; he didn’t leave Pristina’s Adem Jashari Airport. But that didn’t diminish the significance of the trip, which comes at a delicate time for Kosovo’s government. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s administration faces a domestic opposition so enraged that it has resorted to dropping tear gas in parliament, and a sharp worsening of relations with Serbia. Kosovo has also seen a larger proportion of its citizens join the self-proclaimed Islamic State than any other country in Europe, with high unemployment and disillusionment with mainstream politics making […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the European refugee crisis and European Union member states’ approaches to addressing it. In November, Slovenia started construction of a fence along its border with Croatia to help control the flow of refugees entering the country. In an email interview, Katarina Vucko, a legal expert and researcher at the Peace Institute in Ljubljana, discussed Slovenia’s response to the refugee crisis. WPR: What policies is Slovenia pursuing on the national and European Union level to address the influx of refugees, and what is the government’s stance on the EU […]