BULGARIA: Protests Rise Above Parties, and Against Them

Protests have been taking place in Bulgarian capital Sofia almost every day since Jan. 14. Bringing together students and parents, farmers and environmentalists, the actions are directed against a political class which, in the words of the organisers, has "robbed" Bulgarians.

EUROPE: Tempting the Irish to Say Yes

Ireland's rejection of the European Union's Lisbon treaty has led Brussels officials to plan a major publicity campaign aimed at convincing voters that they should respond favourably to the bloc's economic, social and foreign policies.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Don’t Be Fooled by Europe’s Arctic Winter

"Where is global warming, now that we need it?" a comedian asked on German public television ARD. And across Europe people have been asking the same question: if the globe is getting warmer, why is Europe freezing?

ICELAND: That Whale of a Question Again

"Start whaling" proclaimed the full-page advertisement that appeared in Icelandic newspapers early January.

RUSSIA: Migrant Workers Forced to Head Home

The worsening recession is hitting foreign workers from the ex-Soviet republics far harder than it is affecting Russians.

ECONOMY: More Than a Businessman’s Suicide

The suicide of Adolf Merckle, a leading German businessman over the last 30 years, is being seen by many as an allegorical story of the end of a brand of reckless capitalism.

EUROPE: Trucks Get a Free Ride to Emit

Carbon dioxide emissions from using Europe's road to transport goods will increase by more than 50 percent within the next two decades, a new study has predicted.

BALKANS: In a New Search for Alternative Energy

The gas crisis has unleashed new interest in turning to alternative energy sources in the Balkans.

EASTERN EUROPE: Go with Putin, or Go Nuclear

The gas crisis has placed environmental concerns on the backburner, and raised demands for nuclear production at plants once considered unsafe.

EUROPE: Caught in Freezing Crossfire

Central Europe and the Balkans face a halting of industrial production, closed schools, frozen water supply pipes and eventual economic paralysis as suspension of gas deliveries stops life in the region.

EUROPE: Political Chill May Outlast the Big Freeze

As Russia suffers from the financial crisis and Ukraine heads towards bankruptcy, nobody can tell who is to blame for a spat that threatens to freeze Central Europe and the Balkans.

EASTERN EUROPE: Good Old Ways Protecting the Economy

Fears about the impact of the global financial crisis in Eastern Europe may be overblown. While economic growth is likely to slow down in 2009, it is improbable that countries like Romania and Bulgaria will be hit as hard as Britain or the U.S.

RUSSIA: Gas Dispute Raises Political Heat

Disputes over gas supply from Russia to Europe have again taken on a political dimension.

GREECE: Ask for Rights, Get Acid in the Face

Around midnight Dec. 22, Decheva Elena Kuneva, a Bulgarian living in Greece since 2001, finished her shift and made her way home. For four years she had worked as a cleaner in the city railways, as employee of a company contracted by the public enterprise.

EUROPE: Czech Presidency Promises Controversy

The rotating EU presidency has been taken over for the first half of the year by a country with a president who may refuse to sign the EU Treaty, and with a weak government that has more faith in the U.S. than in Europe.

PORTUGAL: Mega Solar Power Plant Begins to Operate

The most ambitious and innovative solar power project in the world kicked off Monday in this white-walled village in the southern Portuguese municipality of Moura, one of the most impoverished areas in the European Union.

ROMANIA: Grand Coalitions, Little Hope

The new year will bring 'grand coalitions' in government in both Romania and Bulgaria. In spite of politicians' claims that a new union between left and right in both countries aims "to safeguard the best interests of the people" in times of crisis, the new coalitions are more likely another sign that decision-makers pursue self-interest above all.

ECONOMY-BALKANS: The Old Ways May Be Recession-Proof

Two things Serbs never forget to pack when visiting friends and relatives abroad are the kore and the cream. The kore is the traditional hand-made pastry; and the Pavlovic face and body cream has long held its own against more upmarket brands.

EUROPE: Roma Pay the Price for Far-Right Rise

The alarm bell is ringing in Central Europe: as the region braces itself for an economic crisis, extremism grows and gains popular sympathy by targeting the Roma.

BULGARIA: Students Demand an Environment for Education

The killing of a student in front of a nightclub in Studentski Grad (Student City) in Sofia has brought to the fore the chaotic and insecure living conditions of tens of thousands of students housed in the quarters.

BALKANS: EU Now Appears Further Away

EU membership remains the declared goal of many of the countries carved out of former Yugoslavia, but recent developments have made that goal more distant than before.