Apart from revealing a swing to the Social Democrats, local poll results have shed light on the public’s growing disengagement from politics.

Bucharest split between ambition to play major regional role and fear of encouraging Transylvanian Hungarians.

After its half-hearted commitment of recent years, the West needs to redouble its efforts to save the Balkans from renewed instability and the “failed state” syndrome.

Dramatic fluctuations in value on the world’s largest stock exchanges are partly mirrored in southeast Europe, but the region’s capital markets have yet to ‘couple’ with the defining trends in global finance.