We invite you to visit a special section of BalkanInsight.com: “Fellowship 2010: Taboo”, where you can find eight articles produced under the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence programme.

This series of reports is the result of the fellows’ four months of investigation, extensive research and travels across the Balkans and the EU. This year, the writers addressed the topic of taboo, tackling rooted beliefs and their transformation under pressures of modernity.

The Fellowship programme, initiated by the Robert Bosch Stifting and ERSTE Foundation, in cooperation with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, fosters quality reporting, encourages regional networking amongst journalists and advances in-depth coverage on complex issues that are central to the region as well as to the European Union.

As the aim of this programme is to tackle the deficit of information and ensure easier information flow within the Balkans, and between the region and the EU, you are encouraged to further disseminate and republish the articles, free of charge.

Along with English, you will find translations of each article in the local languages of the Balkans. We have a range of appropriate photography which is available in high resolution for print and online media use.

The following articles are part of the programme:

Ivan Angelovski – Serbian Church Accused of Sex Abuse Cover -Up

A powerful alliance of Orthodox clergy, judicial officials and politicians may have succeeded in shielding clerical child abusers from justice Ivan reported from Vranje, Irig, Nis, Sremski Karlovci, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Bjeljina and Dublin

Mila Popova – Pill Addiction grips the Balkans

The use of tranquillizers and antidepressants appears to be on the rise in south-eastern Europe, as people struggle to recover from recent wars and cope with the stresses of modern consumerism Mila reported from Sofia, Belgrade, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Glasgow

Doroteya Nikolova – Women head East for Wombs to rent

Banned from paying someone to carry a child for them at home, infertile women travel as far as Ukraine in search of surrogate mothers Doroteya reported from Varna, Sofia, Kharkov, Kiev, Brasov and Belgrade

Georgiana Ilie – Battered Wives Shunned in the Balkans

Women who evict violent husbands from the family home often face disapproval, even outright hostility, from neighbours and relatives in the patriarchal societies in which they live. Georgiana reported from Targu-Mures, Vienna, Belgrade and Paris

- Ruzica Fotinovska - Freed Prisoners Remain Caught Behind Bars

Shunned by their families and unable to access formal rehabilitation programmes, many former prisoners in Macedonia quickly reoffend and end up back where they started. Ruzica reported from Skopje, London and Belgrade

Majlinda Aliu – Trapped in Black: Balkan War Widows

War widows throughout Europe may have shared a common fate, but their subsequent life experiences - from socially conservative Kosovo to liberal England- are radically different. Majlinda reported from Krusha e Madhe, Gjilan, Pristina, Vukovar and Wotton Basset

Jeton Musliu - Kosovars turn blind eye to fake foreign marriages

Kosovar Albanians are increasingly tolerant of men who divorce local wives in order to temporarily marry foreigners and obtain resident status in the West. Jeton reported from Pristina, Peja, Skenderaj, Belgrade and Stuttgart

Ervin Qafmolla – Cult of Virginity Fades Slowly in Albania

While Tirana embraces the modern sexual revolution, traditional moral codes still hold sway in remote northern Albania. But even there, things are gradually changing. Ervin reported from Tirana, Dhermi, Kukes and Palermo