List of Balkans articles
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Ankara on Sept. 5, 2019. Turkey’s Generation Z Turns Against Erdogan
The Turkish leader tried to mold a generation of pious followers. Instead, the country’s youth could bring about his final defeat.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Sochi on December 4, 2019. The EU Needs a New Balkan Strategy
Russian and Chinese influence in Serbia is growing. The EU needs to step up its game to avoid being sidelined.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives on stage to deliver a speech following a cabinet meeting in Ankara on June 9. The Turkish Government Closed a University Because It Fears Free Speech
Ankara shut an institution founded by religious conservatives and attacks tech companies in order to stop young Turks from accessing a free academic and media environment.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Libya's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil wave as they attend Friday prayers in Tripoli on Sept. 16, 2011. Erdogan Is Libya’s Man Without a Plan
Turkey is standing in the wreckage of a foreign-policy adventure with no discernible strategy.
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A police van patrols in front of Hagia Sophia during a two-day lockdown imposed prevent the spread of COVID-19 on April 11, in Istanbul, Turkey. Erdogan Should Not Erase Turkey’s Christian Past
The Turkish president wants to turn Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. Destroying its dual Orthodox-Islamic heritage would be a blow to religious pluralism and tolerance.
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Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, left, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Collapse of Kosovo Talks Amid Leader’s War Crimes Charges Are Rebuff for Trump
Serbia’s president consolidates his control as Belgrade edges toward autocracy.
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Ali Babacan presents his Democracy and Progress Party at a launching ceremony in Ankara on March 11, 2020. Turkey’s Great New Hope Is the Same Old News
Ali Babacan promises he’s ready to take down Erdogan—but he might leave everything else in place.
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U.S. envoy Richard Grenell Anatomy of a Kosovo Summit Catastrophe
The Trump administration is hosting Balkans leaders this week to culminate a peace process that’s gone wrong from the start.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center) with his wife, Emine Erdogan, followed by then-International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde (left) in Paris on Nov. 11, 2018, prior to commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the armistice ending World War I. Why Erdogan Won’t Ask the IMF for Help
Turkey’s economy is a mess, but its president won’t seek an IMF loan because the conditions would mean giving up his extensive patronage network.
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Canan Kaftancioglu A Motorcycle-Riding Leftist Feminist Is Coming for Erdogan
Canan Kaftancioglu has fueled the rise of Turkey’s increasingly effective opposition—and earned the president’s ire.
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Employees disinfect the streets and shops inside Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Istanbul on March 18. The Coronavirus Is Creating a Crisis on Europe’s Borders
European countries have suffered from the pandemic, but their southern and eastern neighbors are faring even worse—setting the stage for financial ruin, political instability, and a surge of refugees.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban leaves following a meeting during the second day of a special European Council summit in Brussels on Feb. 21. Why Populists Want a Multipolar World
Aspiring authoritarians are sick of the liberal order and eager for new patrons in Russia and China.
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Newly elected Prime Minister Albin Kurti reviews Kosovo's honor guard during the handover ceremony in Pristina on Feb. 4. ‘In the Balkans, if You Neglect History, It Will Backfire’
The acting prime minister of Kosovo says the United States helped bring down his government.
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Sanitation workers disinfect a camp for displaced Syrians next to the Idlib municipal stadium on April 9. Syria’s Forgotten War Is a Pandemic Time Bomb
U.N. officials and humanitarian workers are bracing for the worst in crowded camps and conflict zones in Idlib.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on during exercises of a NATO tank unit in Münster, Germany, on May 20, 2019. NATO Has a New Weak Link for Russia to Exploit
North Macedonia just became NATO’s newest and weakest member. That makes it a ripe target for interference.
