enlargement
Nikola Djukic: 'Bosnia may have to wait until 2022 for EU membership'
Croatia’s citizens overwhelmingly voted to join the European union on 21 January. Meanwhile, its neighbour Bosnia-Herzegovina has not yet gained candidate status. We talk to Bosnia-Herzegovina’s ambassador in Hungary about what Croatian membership would mean and why Bosnia is different
enlargement, balkans, hungary, budapest, bosnia and herzegovina, europe, european union
Unravelling the Zagreb web
Contrary to our expectations of a post-war, post-Yugoslav capital, Zagreb looks like a puffy cream cake. The typical Balkan cliché doesn’t strike the eye right away. It is not for nothing that Croatia is a favorite for membership in the European union, having reached 30 of the 35 'negotiation chapters'. 23 May saw EU enlargement to this potential 28th state going on behind closed Brussels doors, but Zagreb has been producing its own critical tones too. Its ladies go for the 'western model' and its LGBT rights record pips it ahead of its Serbian neighbour. The Balkan idyll is cobbled together despite Croatia's status as having the youngest history of war and existing neighbour policy conflicts. Scratch the surface and this deteriorates. Citizens first raged the streets in February against corruption scandals and a bad economic climate. Changes here happened too quickly and in too short a time for this city to grow 'adult'. Read the articles from our French-German-Serbian-Bulgarian team who report from Croatia's capital in the framework of our special edition, Orient Express Reporter (Image: (cc) lern/ Flickr)
- Read the special edition Unravelling the Zagreb web
- Zagreb’s Miss Independents
- Croatia’s writers and playwrights: no post-war no-hopers
- My Zagreb Vitriol: remembering Croatia’s anti-government protests
- Is gay OK in catholic Croatia?
- Croatian writer Olja Savicevic: 'We have never lived in a normal society'
Catch Istanbul if you can
We're not even sure what Europeans think and know about Istanbul. It seems like it should be capital of Turkey, but it hasn't been since 1923. Its rich past reveals how it was a kind of European Union even before this one - where formal membership negotiations began five years ago in October - even existed. From religious clothing to boom-box playing imams via politically-affiliated university food, a first time glance at a metropolis from two districts which seem to bleed European references. Istanbul for beginners
- Read the special edition Catch Istanbul if you can
- Gay culture in Istanbul: ‘We have the balls to say it out loud’
- Getting to grips with Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul and Europe
- Modern myths: politically divided university canteens in Istanbul
- Sorry, we’re women: inside Istanbul’s modern-traditional Blue Mosque
- Islam for beginners: first stop Istanbul
French, Spanish, Czech and British youth on euroscepticism
Unpaid interns, taxes, recycling, the parliament in Strasbourg...you name it, our contributors from across the cafebabel.com network have something to say about what irks them most about Europe. 9 May marks sixty years since the Schuman declaration was signed, when it was agreed that France, Germany and others would work together as a federation
enlargement, european identity, money, common agricultural policy, vox-pop, environment, central and eastern europe
Jean-Christophe Bas: 'the erasmus generation doesn’t know how lucky it is'
Finally, on 9 November 1989, there was peace. Young Europeans born after this historic day did experience the war. But what does the construction of Europe mean to them? In his book L’Europe à la carte, Jean-Christophe Bas calls upon the spoiled children of the eurogeneration’s in order to create a less self-centred Europe.
enlargement, cold war, iron curtain, peace, european institutions, second world war , european constitution
Young, Roma and European: 'my children's lives will be better than mine'
While the problems of Europe’s biggest minority seem endless, the EU aims to offer some hope despite ‘much talk and little action.’ Testimonies from Roma Europeans, European Roma
enlargement, balkans, roma, testimony, european union, society, berlin
Albania: polit-tourism between coves and concrete beach bunkers
At the confluence of the Adriatic and Ionean Seas lies Albania, Europe’s last undiscovered paradise is now looking to tourism to stimulate its economy and is hoping for a better image in the west after having joined Nato and put in an EU bid. 20 years after the fall of the dictatorship, Albania is developing into a hidden gem for independent travellers
enlargement, balkans, sali berisha, albania, tirana, nato, tourism
Giovanni di Lorenzo: 'the values which inspired the creation of the EU are pathetic today'
We speak to an Italian born in Sweden, raised in Rome, who moved to Hannover aged eleven, speaking little German. Today he is the director of German weekly Die Zeit, co-editor of Der Tagesspiegel, author of a bestseller and a TV presenter. We meet in Berlin to discuss the crisis of a marriage of 27 countries on the eve of the European elections between 4 – 7 June 2009: the passion is dead and not enough economic gains to hold it together
enlargement, germany, european media, identity, culture, power, politics
Anders Fogh Rasmussen: why the financial crisis has made Danes more pro-euro
The Danish prime minister was the star of the annual European Liberals Congress in Stockholm between 30 - 31 October. They met to prepare their strategy in view of the June 2009 European elections. Exclusive interview
enlargement, liberls, economy, money, employment, denmark, power
Run-up to Swedish EU presidency: Turkey-EU blame game
Sweden, one of the most pro-Turkey member states, takes over the EU presidency in July 2009. But this may not be enough to kick-start negotiations for Turkey to enter the EU, which began in October 2005. Is there a common interest? Analysis
enlargement, european identity, copenhagen, bernard kouchner, european capitals of culture, candidate countries, european young journalist award
What communism means to three central and eastern European women
Twenty years since the fall of the Berlin wall, what does communism mean to Cecilia, 22, from Bulgaria, Katharina, 20, from Slovakia and Anna, 28, from the Czech Republic?
enlargement, feminism, germany, cold war, iron curtain, emancipation, slovakia
Iceland elections: next stop, Brussels?
On 26 January 2009, Iceland’s conservative-led government collapsed, the latest victim of the international financial crisis that has capsized the tiny island-state. Current percentages of the possible winning coalition are 31% for the socialists and 24% for the green-leftists
enlargement, iceland, eurozone, socialist, nationalism, green parties, economy
Elections, elections: buy a vote for 50 euros in Bulgaria
That's how much a vote can be worth in some areas of Bulgaria. Shortly after the country’s entry into the EU, in the 2007 national election, the problem was so prevalent in local elections that Brussels became alarmed
enlargement, democratisation, corruption, european elections 2009, sofia, best of cafebabel.com, eudebate on the ground
Twenty years on: why Berlin is not Germany
The city buzzes with cultural events to commemorate the reunification of Berlin and the European continent. But how do the protagonists of the change view each other - whether they are born after 1990, are pre-1990 migrants or modern-day visitors?
enlargement, 1989, berlin, stasi, berlinale, eudebate on the ground, eudebate2009
Kids with weapons in Istanbul's Kurdish district
It is the refusal of the government in Ankara to make the inhabitants get on with each other which ends up in their refusal to integrate in Balat, the Kurdish-Armenian district of Istanbul
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