Archive for: Print

Hailing War Criminals, Serbs Shun Reflection

Dec 6th, 2017

Hailing War Criminals, Serbs Shun Reflection

BELGRADE, Serbia — When a general convicted of war crimes gave a lecture last month to cadets at the military academy in Serbia’s capital, he received a warm welcome from the defense minister. The nation should feel “proud” of veterans like the general, “the bravest of the brave,” the minister said. So it was no surprise that after another general, Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes this week, President Aleksandar Vucic called the verdict “unjustified.”

Serbia Prepares to Elect a President Amid a Murky Media Landscape

Apr 24th, 2017

Serbia Prepares to Elect a President Amid a Murky Media Landscape

BELGRADE, Serbia — When he was Serbia’s information minister in the late 1990s, Aleksandar Vucic censored journalists, forced media critics out of business and served as chief propagandist for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian strongman reviled for the atrocities that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. Today Mr. Vucic is the prime minister of Serbia, having been elected in 2014 as a reformer on promises to lead Serbia into a democratic future and membership in the European Union. He has renounced the extreme nationalist views of his past.

Serbia’s Prime Minister Projected to Win Presidency, Consolidating Control

Apr 24th, 2017

Serbia’s Prime Minister Projected to Win Presidency, Consolidating Control

BELGRADE, Serbia — Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic appeared headed toward a first-round victory in Serbia’s presidential election on Sunday, winning more than 50 percent of the vote among a field of 11 candidates, according to exit polls and early results. If the preliminary vote count holds and Mr. Vucic passes the 50 percent threshold, he would avoid a riskier two-way runoff on April 16. While Serbia is a parliamentary republic and the presidency is intended as a largely symbolic position, the actual effect of the election result is seen as removing the last check on Mr. Vucic’s power and as a further erosion of Serbia’s nascent democratic institutions.

As Albania Reckons With Its Communist Past, Critics Say It’s Too Late

Feb 26th, 2017

As Albania Reckons With Its Communist Past, Critics Say It’s Too Late

TIRANA, Albania — When the Rev. Shtjefen Kurti, a 73-year-old Catholic priest, was executed in 1971 for performing a baptism, the Communist authorities didn’t bother to inform his family. Only when his brother tried to take food to him in prison did he learn the priest’s fate. “Don’t come back,” a guard told the brother. “He won’t be needing it anymore.”

A 21st-Century Migrant’s Essentials: Food, Shelter, Smartphone

Oct 16th, 2016

A 21st-Century Migrant’s Essentials: Food, Shelter, Smartphone

BELGRADE, Serbia — The tens of thousands of migrants who have flooded into the Balkans in recent weeks need food, water and shelter, just like the millions displaced by war the world over. But there is also one other thing they swear they cannot live without: a smartphone charging station. “Every time I go to a new country, I buy a SIM card and activate the Internet and download the map to locate myself,” Osama Aljasem, a 32-year-old music teacher from Deir al-Zour, Syria, explained as he sat on a broken park bench in Belgrade, staring at his smartphone and plotting his next move into northern Europe.

Steamrolled:  a special investigation into the diplomacy of doing business abroad

Feb 25th, 2015

Steamrolled: a special investigation into the diplomacy of doing business abroad

One of Europe’s poorest countries wanted a road, so U.S. mega-contractor Bechtel sold it a $1.3 billion highway, with the backing of a powerful American ambassador. Funny thing is, the highway is barely being used—and the ambassador is now working for Bechtel. Story by Matthew Brunwasser Photographs by Matthew Lutton

Bloc Party

Feb 25th, 2015

Bloc Party

Chalga music, a blend of Turkish rhythms, Balkan folk, and Europop, has become a polarizing force in the Bulgarian town of Dimitrovgrad, where many residents long for their socialist past

Statue of Memory

Feb 23rd, 2015

Statue of Memory

Bulgaria commemorates a murdered dissident — and takes a symbolic step toward reckoning with its communist past.

Reconnecting Cultures in the Balkans

Aug 1st, 2013

Reconnecting Cultures in the Balkans

In the villages that nestle amid southern Bulgaria’s remote, scenically spectacular, economically underdeveloped Pirin and Rhodope Mountains, Pomaks—Bulgarian Muslims—are reclaiming their name. Marginalized under 45 years of communism, they saw Pomak become “a word you had to feel guilty about,” says Mehmed Boyukli, a leading Pomak analyst. Now, he says, “with the Internet, the term has become acceptable. It has become a symbol of all the cultural heritage we have preserved.”

Protests Trap Bulgarian MPs Inside Parliament

Jul 23rd, 2013

Protests Trap Bulgarian MPs Inside Parliament

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER More than 100 legislators, government ministers, journalists and officials were blockaded inside the Bulgarian Parliament building late Tuesday night and into Wednesday, as the 40th day of largely peaceful street protests in Sofia, the capital, turned confrontational.