Balkan News

As the country prepares for crucial local elections, a big question is how last week's controversial Bosnian Serb referendum will impact on voters.

The new political secretary of the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, is widely seen as the man steering the party towards the political centre ground - which should improve its coalition prospects.

A new report paints a broadly optimistic picture of economic trends in the Balkan region where growth rates in particular are picking up.

Kosovo police’s director in the Mitrovica area, Nehat Thaci, has been arrested at a border crossing by the Serbian authorities on terrorism charges, although the specific allegations remain unknown.

A new NGO-run centre in the southern Bulgarian village of Belnichan will provide care and shelter for 60 'retired' donkeys, saving them for being sold for meat.

Greece's Foreign Ministry has accused the Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn of taking Albania's side over the Cham issue - by mentioning it in his reply to a Greek MEP.

Swiss police have arrested Elfeta Veseli, a female former Bosnian Army soldier who is suspected of murdering a 12-year-old Serb boy in the Zvornik area in 1992.

An unusual meeting between Macedonian and the Serbian Orthodox bishops has raised hopes of a thaw in relations between the two estranged churches.

Zagreb students threatening to block classes if the dean does not quit say their fight is over ‘the future of education and society’ - not just over the faculty.

Opposition parties are confident that October’s local elections in the scandal-hit resorts of Budva and Kotor will not result in easy wins for the ruling party.

Following unconfirmed reports that the General Prosecutor and his family have been targeted with threats, an expert has urged MPs not to turn the issue into a political football.

Activists from the civic movement opposed to the Belgrade Waterfront project have summoned a fresh rally for Thursday - as a government minister accused an OSCE official of interfering in Serbia's affairs over the controversy.

Rumours that Serbs planned to build a basketball court on a site where a mosque once stood in the divided northern town of Mitrovica have upset some Kosovo Albanians.

  Original peinliche Inkompetenz der EU und Bulgarischen Mafia und vollkommen korrupt. Die Bulgarische Mafia mit Irina Bokova übernahm die UN Organisation: UNESCO Kristalina Georgiewa (2011) Wahl zum UN-Generalsekretär – Bulgarien tauscht Bukova gegen Merkels Favoritin Georgieva aus Gegen jedes Gebot der Moral und der diplomatischen Spielregeln hat die bulgarische Regierung ihre Kandidatin für den Posten des UN-Generalsekretärs, Irena Bukova durch die Vize-Präsidentin der EU-Kommission, und Angela Merkels Favoritin, Kristalina Georgieva ersetzt. Russland hatte sich schon im Vorfeld gegen eine solche Kandidatur ausgesprochen. Also was soll das Ganze? Von Rui Filipe Gutschmidt Contra Magazin‎ – vor 47 Minuten Kristalina Iwanowa Georgiewa ist eine bulgarische Politikerin und Ökonomin. Sie war EU-Kommissarin […]

Erdogan trifft Kissinger und Rothschild Samstag, 24. September 2016 , von Freeman um 10:00 Der türkischen Wirtschaft geht es so schlecht, die Ratingagentur Moody’s hat die Kreditwürdigkeit der Türkei noch tiefer in der Skala des Ramschniveau herabgestuft. Die Finanzen des Landes wären angesichts der politischen Turbulenzen prekär geworden, erklärte Moody’s am Freitag und senkte die Bonitätsnote um eine weitere Stufe auf Ba1. Moody’s verwies auf den enormen Einbruch in der Tourismusbranche infolge des russischen Boykotts und auch fehlender europäischer Touristen wegen den Terroranschlägen in der Türkei. Dies habe die Zahlungsbilanz geschwächt. Gleichzeitig seien die Auslandsschulden von Regierung, Unternehmen und Bankensektor gestiegen, in diesem Jahr seien noch Zahlungen in Höhe von […]

After much Macedonian music went off air in Macedonia in a dispute over copyright, Macedonian TV and radio stations now face another ban - on playing music from Serbia.

28 Sep 16 Albania’s Dependence on Remittances Ending, Experts Say As Albanian emigrants build new lives abroad, experts foresee that the money they send home to their relatives is going to shrink further, but without damaging the country’s economy. Fatjona Mejdini BIRN Tirana Center of Tirana. Photo: BIRN/Ivana Dervishi Economists believe that Albania is no longer going to receive large amounts of remittances – money transferred by expatriate workers to families and individuals in their home country – and the time when this cash was considered crucial for the economy is coming to an end. They suggest that the decline in remittances is connected to the fact that Albanians who […]

After its first choice stumbled badly in the race for the UN top job, Bulgaria has named Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the European Commission as its new candidate.

Macedonia's Special Prosecution, SJO, launched a new investigation on Wednesday, probing whether four Interior Ministry and counter-intelligence staffers committed grave financial crimes.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution announced an investigation into killings and disappearances in the village of Mushtisht/Mustiste in 1999 after locals staged a protest against what they said was official inaction.