Balkan News

National bank data show Moldova's principal foreign investors are now from EU countries – while Russia has dropped from first place to sixth in the investment league table.

Moves to ratify the so-called Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe are encountering strong opposition both from parties in the Bulgarian government and the opposition.

Social media in Kosovo are buzzing with outrage after it was reported that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj took a winter break in star-studded St Moritz, days after he doubled his salary.

In his first year of office, Igor Dodon has been anything but a ‘President of all Moldovans’ – fighting with the government, agitating for Moscow and, some say, using Transnistria to build his own power base.

While prospects for economic growth, propelled by the boom in tourism, look bright, a continuing crisis over the huge Agrokor company could yet bring down the fragile coalition government.

As he enters the last year of his term, Serbia’s combative information commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, says he wishes to leave a proper legal structure in place behind him when he goes.

Mayors in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska vowed to heed President Milorad Dodik’s call for streets to be named in honour of the January 9 ‘statehood day’ holiday banned by the Constitutional Court.

(Ab)using of state flats and villas Published: 14.04.2016 After almost 15 years, the re-trial is beginning in the process against the former officials of the Socialist Party of Serbia and the Yugoslav Left who are accused for the illegal distribution and taking possession of state-owned flats during the 1990s. At the same time, this is the only case under way in Serbia against the former president of the Yugoslav Left, Mirjana Marković. Among the flats that were given away illegally were those managed by the company DIPOS. DIPOS is the company in charge of managing, renting and repairing of flats and villas owned by the state. However, according to research […]

A Kosovo court has handed down conditional jail terms for four opposition Vetevendosje MPs, found guilty of using offensive weapons when they let off tear gas in parliament in 2015.

d 03 Jan 18 Montenegrin Gangs Blamed for Killing in Serbia The killing of a reported member of a Montenegrin organised crime gang in Belgrade shows that Serbia is allowing its capital to become a ’safe house‘ for warring clans, one analyst says. Filip Rudic BIRN Belgrade Illustration. Photo: mup.rs The conflict between Montenegrin criminal gangs will continue to endanger the population of neighbouring Serbia until their suspected members are denied entrance into the country, says a former Serbian deputy minister of police and lawyer, Bozo Prelevic. „It is interesting that the [Serbian] authorities have allowed Belgrade to become a safe house for these [criminal] clans, and I fear the […]

Ex-Bürgermeister von Constanza in Rumänien soll von Madagaskar ausgeliefert werden. 03 Jan 18 Romania Seeks Ex-Mayor’s Extradition From Madagascar Romania on Wednesday said it had begun extradition procedures for Radu Mazare, the former mayor of Constanta, after he skipped meetings with his parole officer and went to Madagascar. Ana Maria Luca BIRN Bucharest Radu Mazare. Photo: Dan Avraham/Wikimedia commons. Romanian prosecutors are set to start the extradition procedure for a former mayor sentenced for graft who skipped his police check-in on December 30 and left instead for Madagascar. Radu Mazare, former mayor of the Black Sea port of Constanta, was given a suspended sentence in the middle of last year […]

The killing of a reported member of a Montenegrin organised crime gang in Belgrade shows that Serbia is allowing its capital to become a 'safe house' for warring clans, one analyst says.

Romania on Wednesday said it had begun extradition procedures for Radu Mazare, the former mayor of Constanta, after he skipped meetings with his parole officer and went to Madagascar.

From general elections threatened by a faulty election law to the deepening political crisis and a blocked path to the EU path, Bosnia is facing both old as well as some new challenges.   

Gerald Knaus, the man who came up with the plan to stem the migrant influx through the Aegean, tells BIRN that Bulgaria could use its EU presidency to make the refugee deal with Turkey work.

Turkey and Russia are competing influences in Moldova’s only autonomous region, where most locals eye Moldova’s courtship of the EU with suspicion.

In a regional review for BIRN, the European Commission says it is working on a new strategy for the Balkans and urges the countries to embrace the chance to further their European perspectives.

The failure of healthy growth rates to translate into wage rises – coupled with the passage of unpopular and controversial laws – are likely to mean a bumpy year. 

Many youngsters are unwilling to start a business in Bosnia because of the complex red tape and high taxes – but one woman says the obstacles poses less of problem than people think.

Deshalb mordet und bombt überall Deutschland im Ausland herum, arbeitet überall mit Kriminellen, auf möglichst viele Einheimische Weltweit zum Auswandern zu zwingen, was im Balkan anfängt. Man muss schon extrem dumm und korrupt sein, als man überhaupt mit vielen Lügen in Afghanistan einmarschierte, die Geschichte ignorierte und als Partner Verbrecher und Warlords dort. Amtlicher Bericht an den Bundestag, wie man sogar die Reisen nach Deutschland finanziert, denn Steinmeier und das Auswärtige Amt, ist die grössten Schleuser Organisation der OK – Organisierten Kriminalität. Beartung für Kriminelle Ausländer, welche mit Touristen Visas anreisen, werden dann auch noch durch Rot-Grüne Anwälte betreut, welche reich sich verdienen. Etliche SPD Leute, haben eigene Asylnaten Heime […]