Angered by the treatment of a protester at the site of a planned resort linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Albanians are taking to the streets, fuelled by long-standing grievances over the way their country has been run.

A new Franco-German proposal is heralding a possible new approach to the European bloc’s enlargement process – and leaving the door open for Kosovo. But it was Serbia’s president who grabbed the headlines at the latest EU-Balkans summit.

As EU moves to prioritise geopolitical needs over old merit-based approaches, the concern is that rushed membership for Ukraine and Albania could come at a cost.

Donald Trump’s son-in-law is headlining a planned luxury development in Albania’s protected Narta Lagoon, but behind him lies a web of colourful business interests knee-deep in controversy.

Protests intensify against planned upscale resort in protected area, linked to Trump's son-in-law – which Prime Minister Edi Rama has strongly defended.

The thermometer’s risen sharply, both literally and politically, this spring - but even with so much else to preoccupy Britons, the Balkans hasn’t quite slipped off the radar.

Edi Rama’s public exchanges with Reporters Without Borders, RSF, over its latest Freedom Index are part of a familiar pattern of redirecting attention away from real problems in society, experts say.

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

By the year 2040, will countries in the region choose to consolidate democracy, settle for ‘stabilitocracy’, or descend into full-blown authoritarianism?

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

The new edition of BIRN’s Western Balkans Stability Monitor looks at election fever in the region. Some countries are heading towards elections; in others, parties are using possible polls as a PR tool.

Albania wants to develop a new commercial port in Durres, but the public tender for its construction has fallen apart in acrimony and accusation.

Organisers of LGBTQ+ Pride parades in Tirana and Sarajevo are calling on people to stand together in a time of growing far-right extremism and prejudice.

A country adrift, critics supressed and an investment project with an explosive side are just some of the highlights of our selection of Premium stories this week.

The Democratic Party has barred all rivals to Sali Berisha from its leadership contest this week – cementing his grip on the party but also, critics warn, undermining its credibility.

Albania has greenlighted construction of a luxury island resort by a company linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law - but under the azure waters lie tonnes of unexploded WWII ordnance.

Prosecutors dropped a probe into the alleged smuggling of Russian oil through an Albanian port in 2023, but behind the vessel in question lies a network of individuals and companies linked by Ukrainian intelligence agents to an alleged ‘shadow fleet’ used by Russia to bypass sanctions and finance its war in Ukraine.

Pro-Israel Czechia may provide US rapper and ‘reformed antisemite’ Kanye West oddly favourable ground to return to the European stage this summer.

While some events covered in our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week suggest that possible changes are afoot, other parts of the region seem stuck in the same rut.

Call centres specialising in online financial fraud have become a growth industry in Albania, attracting young people to criminal activity with the lure of quick money.

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

A young Albanian woman’s return from a camp for Islamic State supporters has delighted her family – but officials warn that the repatriation process for others won’t be easy, particularly if they hold radical beliefs.

In a world that increasingly finds itself turned upside down, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tries to make sense of the past, present and future.

For the first time in years, the governing Socialist Party is being savaged from within as Elisa Spiropali – a once close ally of Prime Minister Edi Rama – attacks his ‘heartless machine’.

Controversial US rapper also known as Ye – who has been banned from the UK and Australia – will hold a concert in Tirana on July 11, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Facebook.

Prosecutors lift the lid on an alleged corruption scam involving the government body tasked with handling Albania’s digital public services. A handful of people made millions.

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

Our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tells a story of political change in key countries in the region, but associated uncertainty about future political directions.

Kosovo’s Albin Kurti and Albania’s Edi Rama have distinct and divergent approaches to governing, each with its own set of risks and rewards.

Revelations from the US about an alleged Iran-linked hacker group’s attempt to sell Albanians’ personal data have raised more questions about cyber defences in the Balkan country after a series of attacks on state systems.