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Guy De Launey

@guydelauney.bsky.social
6.5K followers 436 following 1.3K posts

Balkans Correspondent 📹 🎙 BBC, DW, CBC 🖋️ Monocle Magazine, The Observer, The New World Presenter 🎙 Monocle Radio Moderator ⚖ at large Tadej Pogačar's mountain domestique No Abba monocle.com/contributors/guy-de-lau…

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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 2h
Bless you. I'll be back!
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 2h
After a lifetime of reading The Guardian, I made my debut writing for it this weekend. So have a shufty at my piece about Bosnia's young voters, ahead of the elections which are happening right about now. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Can anything politicians say at Sunday’s election stop young people from leaving Bosnia?
They are the support base for non-nationalist parties but are voting with their feet and not on ballot papers
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Sounds like a plan.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Well - when the opposition took power in North Macedonia, they didn't do anything about the Skopje 2014 statues, buildings and retro-fitted facades. A country like that has other priorities for its spending. And there's the rub. Once built, how can a "responsible" new govt justify removal costs?
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Here's what I wrote about Skopje 2014 back in, ah, 2014. If US citizens want to know what their capital might look like once Trump is done with it, take a gander: monocle.com/affairs/urba...
monocle.com
Start again
Macedonia's Skopje 2014 project aims to instill civic pride with new statues and buildings, but its neo-classical style has proven deeply controversial.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Skopje on the Potomac? It seems that Donald Trump is taking inspiration from North Macedonia's capital when it comes to reshaping the monuments and buildings of Washington DC. Caveat: the Skopje 2014 "antiquisation" project was not an unqualified success. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
The desecration of DC: from a giant arch to a nuke-proof bunker, Trump’s legacy-building blingfest is an architectural atrocity
A bloated ballroom, a six-storey military HQ, a helipad-cum-cocktail patio, a gilded angel on a giant arch honouring himself … our architecture critic deplores the decorator-in-chief’s mutilation of W...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Why would Serbia's government want to associate its country with a war criminal? The Hague tribunal always made it clear that individuals were tried and convicted - not states or peoples. But glorifying criminals is not unique to Serbia. My latest for Monocle. monocle.com/affairs/ratk...
monocle.com
The ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ is dead – but divisions live on in the Balkans
Serbia’s former president Boris Tadić got it right. Ratko Mladić was a “stain” – and his death in custody in...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The BBC's leaders are facilitating cuts instead of fighting against them. Will anybody take a principled stands against the (badly) managed decline of a vital institution? When a Fifa official shows you how to do it, you know your moral compass is out of whack. www.linkedin.com/posts/guydel...
linkedin.com
You do not have to follow orders. BBC leaders would do well to learn that - with an example from a most unlikely source. The man in the picture below is Kevin Lamour, the Chief Operating Officer of…...
You do not have to follow orders. BBC leaders would do well to learn that - with an example from a most unlikely source. The man in the picture below is Kevin Lamour, the Chief Operating Officer of ...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
It was terrific viewing. Also love the attitude of the male sprinters - Hughes, Glave and Azu - especially the former after missing out on 200m gold to a competitor who may face a 4-year ban for refusing a dope test. The sporting spirit appears to be strong in the team.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Yup, the logistics are truly suboptimal. As for the buses - sponsorship opportunity? Should be the sort of value-in-kind proposition the organisers set up with an event like this.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Well, had they put it on in London, it would have sold out. As Diamond League and World Champs indicate. But there were simple solutions - ensure finish times fit with public transport schedules; make ticket prices reasonable; better local publicity (say, one of the jumping events in city centre).
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I wanted to go to the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. But per this article, prices are way too high. And the late finishing time makes getting back home to anywhere other than the local area arduous-to-impossible. A shame - live athletics is fab. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...
theguardian.com
European Athletics Championships face backlash over ‘crazy prices’ and empty seats
Keely Hodgkinson’s coach and the BBC commentator Steve Cram have led a chorus of concern about high ticket prices causing lower attendances at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Thanks. And indeed, BiH's overarching problem is that its political leaders are ethno-nationalists whose MO is: divide, rule and profit. As for the "sniper tourism" story - it is extraordinary how many respectable news outlets ran the allegations without doing so much as a smidgen of "standing up".
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Why are foreign correspondents important? I explain for Monocle. The example I use is the so-called "sniper tourism" story in Bosnia. A tale with elements of Squid Game that has been going around the world since last November. The major problem: there is no evidence. monocle.com/culture/medi...
monocle.com
In an age of misinformation, on-the-ground reporting is the only safeguard
The Sarajevo sniper-tourism scandal proves why reporting from trusted sources is more important than ever.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I know first hand that trying to do complicated stuff on zero-to-very-little sleep is a daft idea. It's the sort of thing broadcast foreign correspondents do - especially freelancers, who are very motivated to do late bulletins and early lives. But no sleep, no quality. Get to bed!
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is possibly the greatest-ever answer in a newspaper questionnaire. In this case, The Guardian's "honest playlist". Oddly enough, I heard 6Music playing back to back Tricky the other day and immediately feared the worst.
Extract from The Guardian honest playlist feature, interviewing the musician Tricky. 

Question - The song I’d like played at my funeral
Answer - I’m never going to die, so there’s no need to think about that.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Link to Monocle_Radio's The Globalist here. My chat about the potential Orient Express revival starts 46 mins in. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Ukraine tackles Patriot missiles and Asean talks Myanmar’s civil war
Will producing Patriot missiles be the turning point that Ukraine’s defense needed? Asean members discuss how to engage with Myanmar...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Trieste-Belgrade railway revival actually happened? The governments of Italy and Serbia affirmed their commitment last week. And other EU and regional bodies are on board. Hopefully the rest of us will be as well, come 2029. Here's what I told Monocle Radio.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
What happened when I asked Albania's PM Edi Rama if we should be worried about him? That's after the corruption investigations involving his closest political allies. Find out here. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Thousands of Albanians demand prime minister's resignation
Flamingos have become a national symbol of protest, triggered by opposition to a luxury development.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Non-executive director. £43k pa. www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/...
bbc.com
Sir Robbie Gibb
Non-executive director; Member for England
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
The BBC is doing this all by itself. But it's the legacy of more than a decade of senior leadership meekly accepting repeated, massive real-terms funding cuts/failing to make the case for properly funded public service media. But still merrily drawing 6-figure salaries. www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/...
bbc.com
Senior staff
Find out more about the BBC’s Senior Leaders including their roles and pay
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Well, it actually goes something like this: senior BBC leadership meekly accept repeated massive real-terms funding cuts over a period of more than a decade. Divisional heads implement repeated "cost cutting" rounds, never risking their own £250k+ pa roles by standing up. Rinse, repeat and wither.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
If I could like this ten times, I would. Puts it all in a nutshell.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Thank you, Maxine. Somehow these things are not viewed holistically. Senior current and former diplomats have told me they had no inkling this was coming. As I've written elsewhere, the UK govt needs to see the BBC as an ally - or at least soft power asset - not an adversary.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Thank you. Meekly accepting repeated cuts over the past 2 decades has been a ruinous strategy.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
No arguments from me on that front. The BBC has been doing the same to itself as well.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Very interesting, Chris. I'll check that out.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
It's not even redundancy. As we're freelancers, BBC News will not pay any severance. And they've made it clear that they're too busy dealing with staff cuts to offer any assistance to the freelance correspondents they are cutting loose. But indeed, this is a region you ignore at your peril.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
That's "Kushner's island" over there. Properly known as Sazan. I'm on the Albania coast near Vlorë, talking to people about the pros and cons of tourist developments - and the impact on wildlife. Watch this space.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Hmm... Blair and Campbell arranged the unjust defenestration of the last decent DG the BBC had. Greg Dyke was prepared to take a political bullet for the corporation and its people. One can't say that of his successors.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Thank you. I was having a good chat with Misha the other week. I devoured that book myself.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Parachute journalism has always been problematic, for the reasons you state. And doesn't make much sense if a news organisation has its own correspondents on the ground. They can't possibly have the same knowledge as a resident correspondent. I am a big fan of @bbcstever.bsky.social.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I wrote to Lisa Nandy, twice, as the representative of the BBC's freelance foreign correspondents. No reply on either occasion, about a year apart. I warned that BBC cuts were putting its foreign coverage at risk, with knock on effects regarding disinformation, etc. Total silence.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I'd be interested.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Totally agree.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
It should. Senior leadership should not meekly accept repeated real-terms funding cuts.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
The region I cover is complicated. I didn't file for almost 3 months when I first arrived. Because I wanted to get to know it first. Parachute journalism - or worse, desk journalism - just won't cut it here.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Everything comes down to choices. For some people, having the World Cup free to air is vital. But the reason we are where we are is that successive governments imposed massive real-terms funding cuts on the BBC, and the organisation's senior leadership failed to push back.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
I have not used X for a long time. Since it became X, really.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Finding it hard to disagree with anything you've written there.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
There's a lot of culture. But much of that's been crippled by the UK leaving the EU.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Funnily enough, last November, the head of foreign news told me he only cared about "Ukraine, Gaza and whatever Trump does".
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Add to that the fact that we don't get holiday pay, sick pay, NI contributions, pension contributions, etc. If we're reporting from our bases, there are no travel or accommodation costs. We don't need fixers, because we already know plenty of contacts. The list goes on...
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thank you. I'm glad to hear that.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
It's not, is it?
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I'd like to see the government find a funding solution for the BBC. It's ridiculous to have it scrabbling for funding and making cuts all the time. How can one run an organisation that way? Which is not to say that BBC senior leadership have performed well.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Yes, it's high time the government realised that the BBC is an asset, not an adversary.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thank you, Helene.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
They think they can cover from desks. They want to do more on social media - fair enough. But the best content comes from knowledgeable people in the field.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thank you, Kurt. Well, I'm hopeful that people value what I do enough to want to work with me. I'm open to ideas and connections if you have any.
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