From politics to the media business, high expectations often go hand-in-hand with disappointments big and small, as our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week shows.

Forest fire on Chios island, Greece, 22 June 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/KOSTAS KOURGIAS. Greek Holiday Islands Caught in Wildfires Eleni Stamatoukou Athens BIRN June 23, 202512:03 Eleni Stamatoukou ...

Our selection of Premium stories this week takes a look at the region’s slow-burning political crises, smuggling networks, digital surveillance and a whole lot more.

A partly ripped electoral poster of right-wing AUR party leader George Simion, covered with a sticker that reads 'Death to Fascism!'. Photo: EPA-EFE/ROBERT GHEMENT. Romania Moves to Confront ...

In a statement responding to this recording, Giertych speculated there might be another reason why the right-wing media published the material now. “As for the timing of publication, I think it ...

North Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning and advised its citizens in Israel and Iran to follow national emergency portals there and follow the instructions of these countries ...

Remains believed to belong to three members of a Bosniak family killed in 1992 after they fled to Montenegro to escape the war in Bosnia have been exhumed in the city of Niksic.

Twenty years ago, a union launched an uphill battle to take over their failing machine-tool factory and return it to the workers. Today, they savour the fruits of that victory.

Polish President Andrzej Duda (L) and President-elect Karol Nawrocki (R) meet at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, 03 June 2025. EPA-EFE/Pawel Supernak Nawrocki’s Victory May Prove ...

Polish PM Donald Tusk attends the government meeting at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw, Poland, 03 June 2025. EPA-EFE/Pawel Supernak Democracy Digest: Polish PM Calls Confidence ...

On March 12, employees of Ukrainian House (Ukrainski Dom), the main NGO representing Ukrainians in Poland, received a bizarre email. The municipality of Bydgoszcz, in northern Poland, was writing ...

The implementation of a new NGO law in Slovakia raises concerns about its potential impact on civil society and democratic freedoms.