On March 7^th, the rivers in the Balkans received a lot of attention in the European Parliament at the event “Save the Balkan Rivers: Resisting Hydro Power Plants in the Balkans & Albania”, organised by the Parliamentary Group “European United Left/Nordic Green Left” (GUE/NGL). People from all over the Balkans, and especially from Albania, raised their concerns about the hydropower expansion and the need to put an end to it.

++ Greater transparency still needed ++ The ‘Save the Blue Heart of Europe’ campaign gave a cautious welcome to a first-of-its-kind summit between the financial sector and green activists, where a roundtable about the role of banks in the destruction of Balkan rivers by hydropower dams was centre stage.

 ++ The women left the bridge after more than 500 days and nights ++ Good news close to Christmas: on December 14^th, the people of Kruščica in Bosnia and Herzegovina won a crucial court case against two hydropower projects that were planned on their little river. The court stopped all dam plans.