Reading this IMF statement on #Albania feels like déjà vu. In the 1990s it praised “remarkable results” while overlooking corruption and fragility that fueled the '97 crash of pyramid schemes. Today it sidesteps corruption and org crime—politics over truth. www.imf.org/en/news/arti...
Recently became aware of this impressive project - Telegram Archive of the War - by the Ct for Urban History in Lviv. They preserve Telegram posts from the war in #Ukraine on a range of topics, including this one to bring smiles & tears: the war and pets.
blog.telegram.lvivcenter.org/blog/dataset...
One of the Albanian government's main challenges has been to combat corruption and to shed the image of a deeply corrupt state as it aspires to join the EU. So it's noteworthy that PM Edi Rama invited the disgraced, indicted and lame-duck mayor of New York who melded personal and political profit.
A state that praises war criminals offends decency and law.
Convicted war criminal Nebojsa Pavkovic, against whom I testified at the UN war crimes tribunal, has been embraced at home after early release.
balkaninsight.com/2025/09/29/a...
The #Albania government has touted the world's 1st "AI minister" as a win for transparency. But algorithmic decision-making turns away from light, especially without independent monitoring and other controls. The corruption this is supposed to combat can flourish in code.
Missile damage by Aberbaijan.
See this insightful report on the TikTok ban by the Institute for Democracy and Mediation, arguing for regulation over prohibitions -- consistent with the EU's Digital Services Act. idmalbania.org/publication-...
On a side note, interesting to see @wienerzeitung.at include a section called "Info & Sources." Helpful and transparent.
A well done article by @dennismiskic.bsky.social, in German, on the TikTok ban in #Albania and, more broadly, an "increasingly authoritarian state that can arbitrarily allow or prohibit things." There's no VPN to circumvent that.
www.wienerzeitung.at/a/tiktok-ver...
On this somber day, 30 years since the Srebrenica genocide, some thoughts on the bold Serbian students demanding a brighter future in their country and grappling with a darker past. #Srebrenica30 #Kosovo
In June, Serbia's ex-police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic returned home after 18yrs in prison for war crimes in #Kosovo, including moving about 1,000 bodies to hide the crimes. I testified in his trial.
Instead of demanding answers, the Serbian govt let him rename a street after the units he once led.
Extraordinary piece showing how Russian forces arm and use small drones in their shameful war on Ukrainian civilians to hunt and kill people trying to go about their lives in Kherson
www.hrw.org/feature/2025...
I have just published a letter to the Federal Minister of Interior of #Germany in which I ask the authorities to uphold #FreedomOfExpression and #Peaceful Assembly in the context of the conflict in #Gaza. Read the letter ⬇️
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
Indeed, cooperative abroad, controlling at home.
Modern Albania as audiobook is out now, available on Spotify, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other platforms.
And if anyone is interested, maybe traveling to Albania, the audiobook version is out now.
Many thanks for the attention and reflections, esp the point on troubling issues with power consolidation under Rama's rule. I'm updating the book now and future editions likely won't be at Biennale exhibits.
In addition to Lea Ypi, another superb Albanian writer I can recommend is Fatos Lubonja.
28 yrs ago, exiled artist Edi Rama criticized Europe in the New York Times for backing a strongman in #Albania. Those words echo differently today after he secured a 4th term as Prime Minister.
My piece in @euractiv.com on his diplomacy abroad, dominance at home: www.euractiv.com/section/poli...
