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Tight Race

The President of Moldova Igor Dodon speaks to media in Parliament building in Chisinau, Moldova, June 9, 2019. Photo: EPA/Doru Dumitru

Moldovas presidential election, due on November 1, is looking a lot like a re-run of the contest in 2016. Voters will once again choose between East in the form of the pro-Russian incumbent Igor Dodon and West personified in Maia Sandu, his pro-Western challenger.

But will the outcome of the re-run be different? This time around, polls suggest that Sandu has a narrow advantage. In any case, the race is almost certain to go to a second-round run off. Aside from the countrys orientation, the current governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic will also be an issue that will dominate the campaign.

Read more: Moldovas Pro-Russian President under Pressure in Re-Run of 2016 Election (October 15, 2020)

A handout photo made available by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) shows an aerial view of Australias new icebreaker RSV Nuyina being towed in the Danube River as it leaves the Galati shipyards in Galati, Romania, 03 August 2020 Photo: EPA-EFE/AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION

Ship-building is one of the few heavy industries in Romania which have survived the transition from Communism. Indeed, Romanias ship-building sector is the fifth biggest in Europe by size of order-books, employing around 27,000 workers.

Yet having survived both the transition from the Communist economy and stiff competition from Asian ship-builders, the sector is feeling squeezed by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Job losses already loom and sectoral associations are calling for specific help to the sector to ensure its survival. We analyse in more depth.

Read more: Pandemic, Asian Competition Threaten Romanias Thriving Shipyards (October 19, 2020)

General Prosecutor Olsian Cela and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Albania, Sander LLeshaj. Photo: LSA

The central Albanian town of Elbasan was once an industrial centre, as well as a hub of culture and learning. Yet today, the town is often referred to as the crime capital of Albania.

In a recent visit to Elbasan, Albanias Prosecutor General stated that the town, as well as its economic life, were under the control of organized crime, which had transformed it into a virtual battlefield. He called for immediate action on the part of law enforcement authorities, underlining that no criminal group could be stronger than the state. In our report from Elbasan, we talk to ordinary people in an effort to get their take on what is going on in Elbasan.

Read more: Central Albanias Crime Capital Feels Resigned to its Fate (October 20, 2020)

Illustration: Unsplash/Ibrahim Boran

Turkeys Islamist AKP government has steered clear of banning alcohol, but it has done its best to make consuming it more difficult. In particular, it has pushed up the price of alcoholic drinks in an effort to squeeze consumption.

This, however, has had some predictable effects. Perhaps the least problematic had been a fall in tax revenues generated by alcohol sales. Much more problematic is the increasing proliferation of homemade booze, which sometimes comes with fatal consequences.

Read more: Turkeys Punishing Taxes Fuel Craze for Risky Homemade Booze (October 15, 2020)

The Third Whitlam Ministry at Parliament House, Canberra, in 1974. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/National Archives of Australia

Politicising ethnic identities is a dangerous game, all too often engaged in by opportunist politicians. One of our comment pieces from Australia tells the unusual story of how Australian Croats faced stigmatization in the 1960s and 1970s.

There is plenty that was problematic with much of the Croatian community in Australia in the period and its sympathies for the Second World War Fascist Ustasa regime of Ante Pavelic. Yet for the Australian Labour party, as anti-Communists and staunch Catholics, Croats were a useful target. We look at this unusual relationship and how it poisoned relations between Australian Croats and the countrys Left.

Read more: Australian Croats Havent Forgotten Their Demonization by the Left (October 21, 2020)

View of a match between Romania and Bulgaria. Photo: BIRN

Cricket often seems like a strange, hard-to-understand game to many outside of the British Commonwealth. Eastern Europe is no exception, where the game typically falls into the category of those strange eccentricities associated with England.

Yet in Romania, we find a small group of local enthusiasts and expats who are doing their best to popularise the sport. Romania even hosted the even more unlikely Balkan Cup cricket tournament. We take a look at how the sport came to Romania and what the reception has been like.

Read more: In a Romanian Village, Pitching Cricket to Eastern Europe (October 21, 2020)

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Week in Review: Feeling the Squeeze - Balkan Insight