To advance in their European integration path, Western Balkan candidate countries must ensure media freedom and pluralism. For Montenegro and North Macedonia, this means moving beyond formal commitments and proving through concrete actions that democratic reforms are more than words on paper
The lack of territorial integrity of Cyprus – an EU member state since 2004 – has never been a vital issue for the Union, but this could change in the case of the three new candidate countries. An interview with Denis Cenușa, associate expert at the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center
A decade after the so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015, South-Eastern Europe remains the focal point and most fragile terrain of European migration policy. What appeared to be a temporary emergency has become a permanent political laboratory in which civil society, deterrence strategies and geopolitical realities are intertwined
With the final phase, thanks to the European CROSS II project, Croatia will be completely mine-free by the end of the year. We visited the Otočac woods in Lika-Senj County, one of the front lines of the 1990s war where demining is still underway. Our report
Croatia began clearing 1,174 square kilometers of land in 1996, and since 1998 has done so with the support of several donors, including the European Union. With the "Croatian Safe Steps CROSS II" project, co-financed by the EU under the Competitiveness and Cohesion Programme, it will be able to declare itself mine-free by 2026. Text by Nicole Corritore, photos by Silvia Maraone
At the end of 2024, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention adopted a proposal from the European Union to downgrade the wolf’s conservation status from “strictly protected” to “protected”. The decision came into force in March 2025. According to the European Commission, there are too many wolves in Europe today, but experts claim that the decision is “scientifically unfounded”. Attacks on pastures, as Croatian biologist Josip Kusak explains, are often the result of bad habits, such as letting livestock roam unsupervised. “We have to learn to coexist with wolves again”, the biologist continues, because “the role of this large carnivore in the ecosystem is irreplaceable”. Photo and text G. Vale
Until recently, it was under strict protection, but since 2024, partly at the request of the European Commission, the wolf’s protection status has been downgraded, so today this species is potentially huntable. According to some experts, “when society shifts to the right, the wolf pays the price”
In this double interview between Serbia and Croatia, we talk to two experts about the state of the wolf population, until recently a strictly protected species in the EU, now degraded and potentially huntable. However, in Serbia, where wolves have always been hunted, the situation does not seem to be getting worse
In the aftermath of World War II and the creation of socialist Yugoslavia, Brijuni became a kind of second Yugoslav capital. Tito used to spend a good part of the year on the islands, welcoming numerous international guests. And this is where the Non-Aligned Movement was born
By materially supporting European regions on different sides of the border to solve a common problem, Interreg projects demonstrate how the impact of transition is often fostered by cross-border cooperation
The Brijuni Islands, a small national park in the northern Adriatic, have a very unique history. Once a malaria-ridden area with inhospitable terrain, they became an important tourist destination in the 19th century thanks to Austrian entrepreneur Paul Kupelwieser. In this two-part report, we explore their history and present-day reality.
Constance, Gdańsk, Klaipėda, Ejsberg. These are some of the European coastal cities that are undergoing major expansion of their port facilities, in the face of serious environmental damage
To protect the marine ecosystems of the Adriatic, concrete policies are needed, shared by all the countries bordering this sea. Often, these results are achieved thanks to bottom-up transnational cooperation initiatives. An interview
Six countries of the Adriatic-Ionian space have joined forces to protect the mountain ecosystem and regenerate biodiversity. The "Promont" cooperation project seeks to empower the local communities to promote positive change through regenerative actions in these areas.
Romania's 250 kilometers of Black Sea coastline are rapidly changing. Coastal erosion is rampant along much of the coastline: it is greatest in the north, where the effects of the scarcity of sediment retained by dams and rising sea levels compound natural processes. However, it is a major economic issue on the beaches of central and southern Romania, frequented by millions of tourists each year and home to industrial ports like Constanta. A colossal coastal defense project, funded by European Cohesion funds, is drastically transforming the coastal landscape, making it increasingly artificial.
To defend the coastline threatened by the advancing Black Sea, the governments in Bucharest and Brussels had promised solutions based on an approach that focused on protecting natural environments. In the end, unfortunately, the "concrete cure" prevailed
In June 2017, an unprecedented fire struck Pedrógão Grande, Portugal, killing 66 people. This event marked a watershed moment in the awareness of the need to rethink land management in Europe
Threatened by mass tourism, unsustainable environmental practices and climate change, mountains are subject of transnational cooperation between six countries in the frame of the PROMONT project. An interview
The Adriatic and Ionian Seas protect only 3.4% of their waters, compared to a European average of 10.8%. Experts call for coordinated action by the ten countries of the basin to combat overfishing and mass tourism
The mouth of Europe's great river is constantly changing and experiencing multiple environmental crises and social fragilities. European funds and new projects seek to combine environmental protection and local development
Ambitious European projects support the protection of the sturgeon. However, without the support of the local community and compensation for fishermen, the goal of saving the the Danube's iconic fish remains elusive
With its labyrinth of canals, inland lakes, lagoons, remote islands, and windswept coastlines, the Danube Delta seems unchanging. Its precious habitats - a haven for Europe's main migratory bird species and the most iconic of fish, the sturgeon - and its lands where populations of diverse ethnicities, languages, and religions have found refuge, are exposed to accelerated environmental and social changes. Climate change and the disruption of upstream waterways are leading to erosion and silting of canals, while poaching, pollution, and a warming climate are threatening biodiversity.
Cohesion funds have also been incorporated into the new national and regional partnership plans envisaged in the proposal for the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, which ties the disbursement of funding to the implementation of specific reforms. But the Commission is already being accused of centralizing management and marginalizing the regions
Thirty years after the Srebrenica genocide, we are witnessing another genocide unfold live-streamed. What we once fought for, and the institutions born out of that earlier tragedy, have failed to prevent the obliteration of Gaza. A reflection by Luisa Chiodi, Director of OBCT, and a heartfelt appeal not to surrender to resignation
Surveys on support for the accession of new member states highlight the need to rethink the way the benefits of enlargement policy are discussed, both inside and outside the EU, so as not to miss yet another opportunity. An interview with Bojana Zorić, analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies
Justice, the role of the EU, life under Russian occupation, and the centrality of people in Ukraine's reconstruction plans: we spoke with Oleksandra Matviichuk, human rights lawyer and director of the Center for Civil Liberties, an organization awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize
The chessboard on which the future of cruises in the Adriatic Sea is being played out has more and more squares. These are the ports that aspire to new destinations, for their own gain but also at their own risk. With its interregional projects, the European Union has been trying to help them since before the crisis
Deforestation, urbanization, and the climate crisis are fragmenting the habitats of large carnivores in Romania and Southeastern Europe. A network of European initiatives is working to protect them, promoting peaceful coexistence as well as biodiversity
In the face of the threat of extreme fires, scientific knowledge and technical solutions are not enough: participatory policies and reasoned incentives are needed to respond to the economic and social needs of those who live in the territories
After EU protests prompt a return to pre-war agricultural quotas on Ukrainian exports, agreement in principle is reached for a modernised multiannual trade, while Ukraine shifts toward higher value-added processing to boost competitiveness and mitigate quota impacts
