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'Bishkek Blunder' -- Feifer In 'The New Republic'

RFE/RL's Gregory Feifer looks at Kyrgyzstan's still-fragile democracy for "The New Republic." More
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Worth Watching

Militants From Madrassahs

The Roots Of The Taliban Audio Slide Show

'Thank You, Ramzan'

The Chechen Leader's Personality Cult Video

An Udder Success

Microcredit Program Takes Off In Tajikistan Video

Latest Balkan News

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton (bottom, center) poses for a family photo with European Union foreign affairs ministers on the first day of an informal meeting at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on September 1

EU Ministers Weigh Strategic Partnerships

EU foreign ministers adjourn after spending much of a two-day, informal meeting in Brussels debating the principles underlying the bloc's choice of strategic partners. More

A NATO soldier patrols on a bridge in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, in July.

Kosovo Serb Leaders Fault Serbia On UN Resolution

Ethnic Serb leaders in riven northern Kosovo are expressing feelings of betrayal by Belgrade after Serbia supported a new UN resolution on Kosovo, with some suggesting the development will result in greater pressure on Russia to take a more aggressive diplomatic line. More

Vladimir Gligorov, staff economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies

Montenegro's First International Bond Deemed Successful

nalysts and Montenegrin officials say strong investor interest in the country's first international bond is proof that the European Union hopeful has a stable macroeconomic situation. More

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the UN General Assembly that Belgrade did not and would not recognize the unilateral independence of Kosovo.

UN Passes Kosovo Resolution

The UN General Assembly has passed a Serbian-backed compromise resolution that supports the European Union taking the lead in mediation efforts between Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership. More

Serbia Into FIBA Hoops Semis

Milos Teodosic made a three-point shot with three seconds remaining on the clock to lift the Serbians to a 92-89 victory in the quarterfinal match on September 8 in Istanbul. More

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Features & Commentary

Kosovo

Interview: PM Thaci Talks About The UN's Kosovo Resolution

Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci spoke with RFE/RL's Nikola Krastev in New York one day after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at opening the way for dialogue between Belgrade and Kosovo. Whether that will actually happen remains unclear. Kosovo's declaration of independence has so far been recognized by 70 of the United Nations' 192 member states. More
Campaign posters of the President Boris Tadic

Can Serbia Move Beyond Kosovo?

Instead of seeking a solution that takes into account the desire of 2 million Kosovo Albanians to live in their own country, most Serbian political parties have adopted populist positions aimed solely at marketing themselves. By keeping Kosovo at the top of the domestic political agenda in Serbia, the parties have distracted the public from issues like the failure of reforms, kleptocratic privatization deals, rampant corruption, crime, and falling living standards. More
British Foreign Minister William Hague (left) meets with Serbian President Boris Tadic in Belgrade on August 31.

Interview: 'I Am Quite Hopeful That A Win-Win Solution Is Possible' On Kosovo

Dragan Stavljanin, a broadcaster with RFE/RL's Balkans Service, recently spoke about the latest developments regarding Kosovo with Stefan Wolff, a professor of international security at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and an expert in postconflict reconstruction. More
Can Kosovo and Serbia bridge the gap between their claims of sovereignty?

Crafting A Special Status For Northern Kosovo

Given the zero-sum nature of the dispute over Kosovo, only some innovation in how the two sides come to define their respective claims of sovereignty and autonomy can end open the way to a durable solution. More
Edin Salaharevic

The 'Disappeared': For Bosnian Basketball Prodigy, The Limelight Held No Protection

Some 35,000 people went missing during the Balkan wars of the 1990s. One of them was a promising youth athlete with supporters throughout the region. But it wasn't enough to save him. More
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will look to throw the EU

Germany To Serbia: It's Time To Toe EU Line On Kosovo

When it comes to Kosovo, Serbia and the West occupy alternate realities. Serbia continues to insist Kosovo's independence is not a done deal. The West, with growing impatience, says it is. Germany's foreign minister will become the latest Western diplomat to urge Serbia to leave its reality behind when he travels to Belgrade as part of a three-day Balkans tour. More
With its ruling on Kosovo, has the International Court of Justice opened Pandora

The Kosovo Precedent

Kosovo, as observers were unanimous to observe in the wake of the International Court of Justice's ruling, forms the tip of the iceberg of global separatism, and the ruling may well have opened Pandora's box. More

Themes Of War And Reconciliation Featured At Sarajevo Film Festival Video

Themes of war, remembrance, and reconciliation resonated in a city that still bears the scars from Bosnia-Herzegovina's 1992-95 war. More
Serbian nationalist posters in Belgrade in May 2008 branding pro-European Serbian leaders "Enemies of the State" for having signed an agreement on closer ties with the EU.

Serbia Vs. Serbia

Nenad Pejic says a very public attack on one of Belgrade's best-known commentators might compel many in Serbia to take a good look at their country and themselves. More
A woman in Belgrade walks past graffiti reading "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia."

Kosovo Ruling Accelerates Erosion Of European Order

The decision by a UN court on Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence will not have immediate consequences. But it has become another element in the general erosion of the European order that has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War. And the long-term consequences of this erosion are impossible to predict. More
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Facts & Stats

Map of Balkans

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Population
4,590,310 (2008 estimate)

Ethnic Groups:
Bosniak 48%
Serbian 37.1%
Croatian 14.3%
other 0.6% (2000)

Religions:
Muslim 40%
Orthodox 31%
Roman Catholic 15%
other 14%

Languages:
Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian

KOSOVO

Population
2,126,708 (2007 estimate)

Ethnic Groups:
Albanian 88%
Serbian 7%
others 5%

Religions:
Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic

Languages:
Albanian, Serbian, others

MACEDONIA

Population
2,061,315 (2008 estimate)

Ethnic Groups:
Macedonian 64.2%
Albanian 25.2%
Turkish 3.9%, Romany 2.7%
Serbian 1.8%
other 2.2% (2002 census)

Religions:
Macedonian Orthodox 64.7%
Muslim 33.3%
other 2%

Languages:
Macedonian 66.5%
Albanian 25.1%
Turkish 3.5%
Romany 1.9%
Serbian 1.2%
other 1.8%

MONTENEGRO

Population
678,177 (July 2008 estimate)

Ethnic groups:
Montenegrin 43%
Serbian 32%
Bosniak 8%
Albanian 5%
other 12%

Religions:
Orthodox, Muslim, Roman Catholic

Languages:
Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Croatian

SERBIA

Population
7,498,001(2002 census)

Ethnic Groups:
Serbian 82.9%
Hungaran 3.9%
Bosniak 1.8%
Romany 1.4%
Montenegrin 0.9%
Croatian 0.9%
other 8.2%

Religions:
Serbian Orthodox 85%
Catholic 5.5%
Protestant 1.1%
Muslim 3.2%
other 5.2%

Languages:
Serbian 88.3%
Hungarian 3.8%
Bosniak 1.8%
Romany 1.1%
other 5%

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