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.

President Nicusor Dan on Friday designated Ilie Bolojan, leader of the National Liberal Party, PNL, as Romania’s next prime minister. The announcement ended nearly a month of negotiations ...

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 ...

Download this e-book collection of Balkan Insight’s reports telling the story of the mass protest movement in Serbia from November 2024 to May 2025.

A move to turn the site of the former Spac labour camp in northern Albania into a film set has revived calls for better protection of what’s left of Albania’s dark communist past.

Big Brother Fears over Chinese Security Software in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska Natasa Miljanovic Zubac Banja Luka BIRN June 18, 202508:05 Natasa Miljanovic Zubac Banja Luka BIRN June 18, 202508:05 ...

Members of the Kosovo Security Force raise the national flag before a field training at the New Born camp, December 2018. Photo: EPA/STRINGER. Kosovo Can Deepen US Ties with Cyber-Defence and ...

A Belgrade court in has ordered up to 30 days of custody for Krunoslav Fehir, a member of a unit led by former Croatian general Branimir Glavas, on suspicion that he committed wartime crimes.

Croatia's maritime ministry hails safe rescue of passengers and crew members from a vessel that started taking in water on Monday night near the port of Zadar.

Ekrem Imamoglu, mayor of Istanbul and the main opposition party’s presidential candidate, told a court in the city on Monday that the cases against him are a punishment for challenging the rule ...