Week in Review: Hopes, Dreams and Reality Checks in 2026
As the new year gets off to a cold start in the region, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories takes a look at the high expectations and sobering realities…
Kosovo in 2026: Internal Stability Needed Amid Changing Global Order
Vetevendosje’s recent election win might end Kosovo’s political gridlock but the country must step up reforms and adapt to a more turbulent world, experts warn. KAYNAK: Balkan Insight
Letter from Brussels: A Chill Wind Blows from Trump’s America
The US president’s combative demands to take over Greenland have spooked EU diplomats and NATO leaders this month. In Kosovo meanwhile, Vetevendosje’s victory means the European bloc will have to…
Court Blunder in Hague War Crimes Trial Could Jeopardise Fairness
The Kosovo Special Court’s decision to deny a request from Hashim Thaci and his co-defendants for a separate sentencing hearing – if they are found guilty – is deeply concerning…
BIRN Reality Check: Kosovo-Serbia Normalisation Deal Still Unimplemented
Experts say obstacles created by both Serbia and Kosovo, as well as EU passivity, are most to blame for the failure to take the 2023 normalisation deal between the two…
Exposing Scams, Probing the Powerful: A Year of BIRN Investigations
As 2026 begins, we look back on some of the most important investigations published by BIRN in its 20th anniversary year – from brutal migrant-smuggling gangs and arms deals with…
Kosovo in 2025: Wartime Sexual Abuse Stigma Challenged in Public
For the first time since the 1998-99 Kosovo war, a Kosovo Albanian man spoke publicly about the sexual violence he was subjected to by Serbian fighters. KAYNAK: Balkan Insight
Letter From Washington: The US Just Blasted Balkan Authoritarians – Or Did It?
The recently-passed Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act shows that some US lawmakers still care about the region. But it doesn’t mean that Donald Trump is going to tell Aleksandar…
Kosovo’s Kurti Returns to Premiership with ‘a Lot of Work Ahead’
Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje is on the way to forming a new government after the weekend’s elections – with a lot of catching-up to do after ten months of political stalemate…