Overall, Central and Eastern Europe is very strongly hit in the current economic crisis that had divided the European Union as well. In some countries, which are in a nation-building state, candidates have expressed unfaltering support for nationalistic parties. In the more established countries, such as the Czech Republic or Hungary, the political elite is divided among ideological, not ethnic or nationalistic lines, and the political elite is in a deep crisis.

Macedonians headed to the polls on Sunday to choose the country’s president from seven candidates and 84 mayors from 365 candidates, and members of the local councils. The incumbent president, Branko Crvenkovski did not run for re-election. Gjorgje Ivanov, the candidate of the strongest party in the Macedonian parliament, VMRO-DPMNE, won the first round of the [...]

Tony Barber writes about the latest round of the great Balkans naming game: Macedonia (a country that could not enter NATO and is not allowed to use its name in the United States because of a Greek veto over it) decided to rename an EU-funded cross-Balkans infrastructure project after its great conquering ruler, Alexander the [...]

Macedonia is a country recognized by 120 members of the United Nations and an applicant to EU and NATO. Another EU-member has been wrecking the enlargement strategy by a naming game, refusing the accept the name of the country.
A few months ago I not only found the obstruction of Greece shameful and tinted by the [...]

The Foreign Policy blog, Passport has an excellent round-up on the early elections in Macedonia. The newly established state that became sovereign after the break-up of Yugoslavia is struggling to build up a national identity that encompasses its ethnic groups. Most of Macedonia’s neighbors have a hidden territorial claim over the new state. Although Macedonia [...]