Balkan News

As campaigns targeting NGOs linked to US philanthropist George Soros continue in the Balkans, Laura Silber - of Open Society Foundations - said illiberal governments were trying to divert the public from the real issues.

3 pages: Draft Presidential Memorandum Suspending Conflict Minerals Rule   Leaked Trump Presidential Memo Would Free U.S. Companies to Buy Conflict Minerals From Central African Warlords   Lee Fang February 8 2017, 10:01 p.m. The leaked draft of a presidential memorandum Donald Trump is expected to sign within days suspends a 2010 rule that discouraged American companies from funding conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo through their purchase of  “conflict minerals.” The memo, distributed inside the administration on Friday afternoon and obtained by The Intercept, directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to temporarily waive the requirements of the Conflict Mineral Rule, a provision of the Dodd Frank […]

Typische Tradition und Einstellung von Albanischen Politikern und Beamten: „Paplo Escobar des Balkans“ Klement Balili besuchte nicht nur das illegal gebaute Mafia Hotel des Drogen Baron: Klement Balili, wo Interpol Haftbefehl ausgestellt ist, sondern outet seine eigene Tradition: Rauben, Plündern, Stehlen, Morden, Frauen, Waffen oder Drogen Handel ist Ehrenhaft, gereicht zur Ehre in der Familie und schafft viele Arbeitsplätze.   Deshalb gibt es über 400.000 illegale Bauten, wie in einem Wild-West Rennen wurden Antike Innenstädte und die Küste verwüstet und EU, Weltbank finanziert. Zitat der Abgeordnete Eduard Ndocaj: Er (Klement Balili) hat Hunderte von Arbeitsplätzen geschaffen, er ist ein Patriot.Tradition ist, das man nur in den Nachbar Dörfern raubt, heute […]

While in Romania the power of the people makes itself felt at protests on the streets of Bucharest, in other corners of the Balkans politicians are vying to surf to power on the back of popular votes. 

About 2,000 litres of illegal fruit brandy have been discovered during regular check-ups by the Bulgarian customs agency in the monasteries of Troyan and Bachkovo.

A French court decided to postpone its decision on whether to free former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj or to send him to Serbia to face trial on war crimes charges.

Insider testimonies and some of his own past articles suggest that President Gjorge Ivanov was more like Nikola Gruevski’s ideological guru than the puppet many believe him to be.

Media in Kosovo have reported the death in unknown circumstances of Albanian ISIS commander Ridvan Haqifi, who became infamous because of a video in which he warned Kosovars that 'black days were coming' to them.

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks said the plight of Kosovo war victims is being ignored amid the ongoing political discussions about the country’s future.

Failures in the central heating supply have left around of half of the population of the capital, Sofia, in the cold – without knowing when the problem will be resolved.

Disputed media reports that migrants tried to kidnap a baby in Obrenovac have caused public unease in the Serbian town where a camp was set up to house 250 migrants last month.

The decade of wars, repression, hyperinflation and protests is documented through a young man’s eyes in a new exhibition of pictures by Serbian photographer Srdjan Veljovic.

Head of Serbia's European Movement, an NGO, says growing criticism by Serbian officials of the EU is undermining people's support for - and understand of - the European project.

Bulgarian MEPs want Europe to pressurise Albania to recognise the existence of a Bulgarian community - although whether this community does actually exist remains controversial.

An indictment for abuse of office against the new chief of the Kosovo intelligence agency was withdrawn only days before he was appointed to head the agency, BIRN heas learned.

While massive street protests have traumatised the ruling Social Democrats, experts say the discontent reveals something wrong at a structural level with Romanian political parties in general.

Politicians in the Balkans condemned Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher for suggesting that Serbia and Kosovo swap territory and for claiming that Macedonia is not a state.

At the launch of his new book on his encounters with the former Serbian leader, Sir Ivor Roberts recalls a man who was wily and intelligent but who had “no long-term strategy”.

Zagreb police have moved Saturday's planned protest against the militarisation of society away from the Defence Ministry, while a rival group supporting reintroduction of military service will be in front of the building.

A Croatian court ordered the state to pay compensation to former Yugoslav pilot Tomislav Bozovic for his suffering in the Kerestinec military prison near Zagreb during the 1990s war.