Balkanalysis.com

By Chris Deliso The successful conclusion of a long reform process that has brought a greater sense of stability and security for military personnel, as well as a more prominent role in Balkan partnerships on the national level, are two of Bulgaria’s key achievements, according to General Zlatan Stoykov, Chief of General Staff of the [...]

By Christopher Deliso* High on a windswept ridge in Macedonia’ss barren northeastern expanse, some 17 kilometers down a rough dirt track heading towards Kratovo, it stands as a cryptic reminder of the country’ss still largely undocumented past: the rocky remains of what was once an important outpost in the Early Byzantine imperial hinterland. Nevertheless, the [...]

(Balkanalysis.com Research Service)- The first New Year’s gift of 2009 to the citizens of many Balkan countries has come in the form of the season’s first significant snowfall, blanketing large areas in Macedonia, northern Greece, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Albania. In the Macedonian capital of Skopje, some 16cm of snow has accumulated in the past [...]

By Christopher Deliso Two Macedonian Army representatives were among the chosen expert speakers at a conference last week in Bulgaria devoted to peacekeeping issues involving the former conflict in Bosnia and the Balkan security situation today. The conference was organized by the Bulgarian General Staff and NATO, and held at the prestigious G.S. Rakovski Defense [...]

In this detailed interview, Balkanalysis.com director Christopher Deliso gets a contemporary view on Bulgaria from a unique perspective- Americans Roy and Anne Freed, at 91 years young undoubtedly among the most senior of American lovers of this Balkan country. Roy and Anne had long and distinguished careers in the legal and psychology/social work fields, respectively. [...]

By Jan Buruma Almost two decades after the fall of communism, Bulgarians are still wrestling with their totalitarian past. They do not yet have complete access to the files of the communist-era secret service (Darzhavna Sigurnost), but that is about to change. In June 2006, a legal deadline to open the files expired. But only [...]

By Christopher Deliso Economy ministers representing Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania signed an important trilateral convention at a ceremony at 1 PM on Wednesday at the Macedonian government building. The signing paves the way for preliminary work to begin on the long-anticipated AMBO oil pipeline, devised since 1994 but still not executed. However, with yesterday’s signing [...]

By Lara Scarpitta* It is old news that geography matters in foreign policy. A dormant EC/EU had to learn this vital lesson in 1989, when communism crumbled behind its safe walls. Faced with the sudden prospect of bordering poor, unpredictable and unstable neighbours, it responded by anchoring the former soviet satellites of Central Europe with [...]

By John Demopoulos* Energy diplomacy has come to dominate the foreign policy agenda for countries on Europe’s periphery and the Balkans is no exception. As the West seeks to strengthen and diversify its energy supplies, the region has become awash with proposals for new transit routes to ease the flow of resources from the Caspian. [...]

(Balkanalysis.com Research Service)- A tri-country expert meeting that could determine the future of Balkan oil transit is set to take place tomorrow in the Bulgarian capital. The meeting, which brings together representatives of Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania as well as the chief executive of the AMBO oil pipeline project, Ted Ferguson, had been delayed by [...]