“US recognition of severed Kosovo province was a serious mistake, leading to an escalation of tensions, instead of calming down the situation in the Balkans … consensus boils down to the fact that nobody knows where Kosovo is” (John Bolton) “The recognition of Kosovo was premature and conditioned by great pressure from the former American [...]

The last election in Croatia can bring a refreshing change with new President Ivo Josipovic – a university law professor and a composer of classical music – but he will find a much tougher struggle ahead of him. This struggle not only due economical problems (national debt and unemployment) but also problems related to Croatia’s [...]

As I can comment only about a tiny fraction of news about the issues of my interest I have launched a news portal for better coverage. My new “Ari Rusila’s Conflicts” site – created with help and platform of NewsCred Ltd. – is loaded relevant multimedia content from over 2500 news sources and blogs. The [...]

Free movement is one fundamental human rights not only in one’s own country but also abroad. While speaking about Balkans I earlier have highlighted (e.g. “Forgotten Refugees – West Balkans“) the situation of Serb refugees or IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) who can not return to their original homes in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina or Kosovo. The fear [...]

The refugee question is of paramount importance in Balkans – still. Beginning 1991, political upheavals – such as the breakup of Yugoslavia – displaced millions of people. Officially one part of these people are refugees meaning that they have escaped to other country, one part is “internally displaced persons” (IDPs) meaning that they have escaped [...]

As Lisbon Treaty seems to come into force also the enlargement process in the Western Balkans got new boost. On 14 October 2009 the Commission adopted its annual strategy document explaining its policy on EU enlargement.The document includes also a summary of the progress made over the last twelve months by each candidate and potential [...]

The “European perspective” is key concept for integrating western Balkans into EU. The main carrot for ordinary people during this millennium has been visa-free travel after some 17 years of isolation. On 15th July 2009, the European Commission submitted its proposal on visa-free travel for citizens of Western Balkans countries. After a non-binding opinion of [...]

While remembering the 10th anniversary of Nato bombings against Serbia I like to highlight some basic issues before, during and after bombings 1999:   · Public justification was based to fabricated, manipulated and one-sided reports by U.S. like earlier in Bosnia and after e.g. in Iraq-case · The bombings and later orchestrated unilateral declaration of [...]

This post was first published in TH!NK ABOUT IT site 21st February 2009. An Italian non-governmental organisation – the Rome-based “Un ponte per …” – is investigating consequences of NATO’s 1999 bombings of Serbia and the effects of the use of depleted uranium (DU) on the civilian population. The NATO allegedly used shells with depleted uranium [...]

Kosovo Albanians celebrated yesterday their first year of sc. Independence.  Among normal praising statements and congratulations there was also various definitations of the status of this Serbia’s separatist province.  Newest for me was one of which  the former PM Ramush Haradinaj used.  He addressed many criticisms toward the Government – a quote (Koha Ditore, Zëri, [...]