New York singer-songwriter Chocolate Genius Inc joins us in the studio to talk about his latest album, "Swansongs". But before that: the Balkan Trafik festival aims to open our eyes to the vibrant culture of south-eastern Europe...on the streets of Brussels. Plus, the golden boy of French music, Julien Doré, looks set to dazzle with his playful new album.
Europe District takes you to Macedonia, a former Yugoslav republic whose long-standing name dispute with Greece has hampered Skopje’s progress towards EU and NATO membership. We also show you why a row over media freedom has prompted snap elections in the country, and we drink coffee with Esma Redzepova, Queen of the Gypsies.
Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi talks to Caroline de Camaret following his country's first parliamentary vote since declaring unilateral independence from Serbia in 2008. Despite concerns about some voting irregularities, Mr Thaçi calls the poll a "strong and convincing victory" for his party, the PDK.
Nearly three years after it declared itself independent from Serbia, Kosovo is holding its first elections. But Belgrade still refuses to recognise Pristina's sovereignty. Meanwhile, Serbs still living in the breakaway republic are divided. Those in the northern parts of Kosovo, close to the border with Serbia, are expected to boycott the ballot. But elsewhere in Kosovo, some Serbs are planning to turn out.
A rail link running directly between Sarajevo and Belgrade has reopened after almost 17 years. The track was cut off during the war in the former Yugoslavia. The damage was so substantial that the journey now takes two hours longer. We look at what this symbolic train tells us about ethnic divisions in Bosnia today, shortly before elections there.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic, who was jailed for her role in atrocities committed in the Balkan wars, was freed from a Swedish prison on Tuesday after she was granted early release.
Radovan Karadzics’s trial opens today. The victims of the Balkan wars have been waiting for this day since many years. Accused of crime against humanity amongst other, the ‘beast of Bosnia’ now threats not to show up in court.
Serbia's bid to join the EU still faces hurdles. Belgrade, which could formally apply for membership before the end of the year, still has to track down, arrest and send to The Hague those accused of war crimes.
In detention at The Hague and facing war-crimes charges, the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said the war in Bosnia was a creation of the world's "great powers" well before he entered the political scene.
US Vice President Joe Biden said the US "did not expect" Serbia to recognise Kosovo in a joint press conference with President Boris Tadic in Belgrade, following talks aimed at rebuilding a relationship frayed by US support for Kosovo's independence.
