The first 2015 issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies is now online. This issue includes a variety of pieces, including work by Cengiz Erisen who discusses the influence of incidentally raised emotions on political interest and threat perception with respect to the Syria crisis. Angelos-Stylianos Chryssogelos analyses the effects of a polarised two-party political system in Greece on Turkey’s EU candidacy, while Nikolaos Karampekios discusses Greece’s policy in the European Defence Agency. The Finance Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, contributes work on labour supply in conditions of high unemployment, and Michal Mochtak writes on election-related violence in the post-communist context of Montenegro. Finally, Yiorgos Ioannidis discusses the Greek tax system from 1995-2008, shedding light on the current crisis.