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EU mining troubles: what unites striking coal miners and protesting anti-mining activists in the Balkans?

Note from LeftEast editors: Vladimir Unkovski-Korica joins up the dots as mass struggles from below kick off in the Balkans. It is the third text in a series of interventions LeftEast will publish on the eco uprising in Serbia.This article is published in collaboration with Counterfire. Several small amendments were made by the author. Just weeks after […]

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Elections in Croatia see the emergence of the first left pole since the country’s independence from Yugoslavia

Note from LeftEast editors: We post this article in cooperation with Counterfire. Despite left gains, early elections paid off for the ruling centre-right party, writes Vladimir Unkovski-Korica On Sunday 5 July, Croatia held early parliamentary elections. Turnout was only 46 percent, reflecting low levels of engagement with official politics. Despite this, the ruling conservative party […]

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Imperial partition: Trump’s new order in the Balkans

Note from LeftEast editors: The article is published in cooperation between Counterfire and LeftEast. The US President is hoping that he can broker a Serbia-Kosovo deal ahead of the November elections, writes Vladimir Unkovski-Korica. Donald Trump is a man in a hurry. There is an election to fight, and success is in short supply. His […]

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Between opportunity and opportunism: Vetevendosje! on verge of power after Kosovo elections

Albin Kurti’s party won the 6th October poll, but whether they will provide a clean break with the last 30 years in Kosovo remains to be seen, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica. Kosovo’s recent election was close. According to final preliminary results, Levizja Vetevendosje! (Movement Self-Determination!) beat the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) by fewer than 6,000 votes. […]

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Disgraceful and dangerous: European Parliament equates Communism with Fascism

By voting to distort history, MEPs are legitimating fascism and imperialism, argues LeftEast editor Vladimir Unkovski-Korica in an article initially published on Counterfire. On 18th September this year, the European Parliament passed a resolution entitled ‘On the Importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe’, by 545 votes to 66. The resolution is summed up by the […]

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Mass protests across Europe show that a new politics is on the horizon

Note from LeftEast editors: We repost this article in collaboration with Counterfire where it was originally published on 29th of December 2018. ‘No Christmas for the bourgeoisie!’ declared graffiti on a wall in Paris as the Gilets Jaunes protests electrified Europe since their first protest on 17 November. Even before the series of French protests […]

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Defeat for EU and NATO expansion: the failed referendum in Macedonia

The failed referendum in the small Balkan state represents a major upset for the West, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica The 30 September 2018 was a disaster for the EU and NATO in the Balkans. The vast majority of the electorate of Macedonia boycotted a referendum that asked: ‘Are you in favour of membership in NATO and […]

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Tensions in the Balkans: is Serbia preparing to recognise Kosovo?

The Serbian President’s rhetoric since July 2017 has been suggestive of a compromise deal – but, argues Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, the future is still uncertain.   Last week, Kosovo’s authorities failed to publish their promised draft statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) i.e. for the several tens of thousands of Serbs concentrated in north […]

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Belgrade’s Municipal Elections: A Class Analysis of the Vote

Belgrade held regular municipal elections on Sunday 4 March. These were the first municipal elections since the mass protests against the Belgrade waterfront project in spring 2016. As such, they were a major test for the conservative Aleksandar Vučić regime since his presidential re-election in 2017. The regime understood the dangers posed by a potential […]

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The Trump Effect in the Balkans: Serbia’s third election in four years?

Serbia faces a set of regular presidential elections this year – but also the prospect of its third parliamentary election in four years. The latter possibility confirms those analyses that have posited the instability of Serbian politics in spite of the appearance of stability, following the ruling coalition winning almost half the votes cast in both previous elections. […]