- Culture of Denial: Why So Few War Criminals Feel Guilty Some of the war criminals from the 1990s conflicts who admitted their guilt in court spoke to BIRN about why they confessed – although some say now that they only expressed remorse to get shorter sentences By Barbara Matejčić from Mostar and Zagreb Croatian version “Other than Milan Babic, I don’t know of any other […]
- The first interview with a police officer who had taken part in illegal pushback operations Migrants trying to enter the European Union via Croatia have been illegally expelled back to Bosnia by police. Some migrants said police had beaten them up and robbed them. By Barbara Matejčić from Zagreb, Bihać, Velika Kladuša Croatian version “My fellow police officers and I took part in unlawful migrant pushbacks from Zagreb to the […]
- In Veles, meeting the producers of fake news In Veles, a run-down city in Macedonia, a discrete but prosperous sector is booming – the fake news industry. Hitting the headlines during the US elections, the industry is in the hands of young people with in-depth knowledge of the social media and their followers. Without any prospects of finding decently paid work, they have […]
- Playing Together, But Still Living Apart Disabled war veterans from all over the former Yugoslavia come together to play at volleyball tournaments – but that doesn’t mean they’re getting any closer to post-conflict reconciliation. By Barbara Matejcic from Banja Luka Croatian version Adem Maksumic is a Bosniak from Mostar. He lost his leg during the war in Bosnia. When his girlfriend, […]
- Greed is Governing Tourism in Split and Dubrovnik Tourism changes the complete blood stream of a city; the way it lives and breathes, its values and residents’ choice of occupation By Barbara Matejčić Croatian version In the narrow streets along Diocletian’s Palace it was such slow moving this past summer that you could have effortlessly read a book while slowly strolling, taking a […]
- Who can Afford This? The Financial Times proclaimed the ancient Palace in Split the most desirable living place in a competition among 182 urban localities from UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. But wealthier inhabitants do not reside here because they value the privilege of living in the most preserved Roman palace in the world; they have recognised its […]
- Vukovar Still Imprisoned by its Bloody Past Two decades after a Serbian siege almost reduced the town to rubble, Vukovar is an unsettled place, home to two communities that face separate ways. By Barbara Matejcic from Vukovar Croatian version “Does this train strike you as one taking you to a nice place?” So asks my only fellow passenger in the only carriage […]
- Berliners Against Goliath Investors Berlin’s “Right to the City” Alliance succeeded in halting developments worth 3 to 5 billion euro By Barbara Matejčić Croatian version Despite the snow falling thickly and unceasingly on a freezing Monday late last year, a now fancy café in Friedrichshain, a one-time East Berlin working-class district, was packed. In a completely ordinary café, usually […]
- Cruel Wars Cast Shadow Over Mixed Marriages In the ethnically homogenised communities of Bosnia and Croatia, mixed marriages are stigmatised as a symbol of a discredited way of life. By Barbara Matejcic Croatian version For all the relaxed atmosphere, cool music and cheap beer, club Abrasevic in Mostar, a town in southwest Bosnia, is not just another alternative youth hangout. As the […]
Barbara Matejčić slobodna je novinarka i urednica fokusirana na društvene teme i ljudska prava.