Balkaninsight.com

In closing arguments at Ratko Mladic’s war crimes trial, the defence said claims that Bosnian Serb forces under his command indiscriminately shelled Sarajevo and sniped at civilians were a myth.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic cut short a visit to Brussels and anti-Croatian posters appeared in Belgrade after Zagreb blocked the opening of a negotiating chapter in Serbia’s EU accession talks.

The DUI's victory in the ethnic Albanian camp in Macedonia was pyrrhic - overshadowed by the success of new parties and of the Social Democrats in wooing its traditional voters.

As the UK and America withdraw from the region, Europe’s ability to use ‘soft power’ to nudge the Balkans in the direction of liberal democracy will further decline, making instability more likely.

It may be somewhat new to the Balkans - but crowdfunding platforms are fast becoming a valuable new financial resource for aspiring Bosnian entprepreneurs.

UN team working on enforced disappearances says government in Albania has done far too little to help victims of communist persecution find the bodies of the missing or mass graves.

European integration will not stop Balkan governments from cracking down on independent voices unless societies have built up strong means of resistance, Kiril Koroteev, of the Moscow-based human rights centre Memorial told BIRN.

Serbia's Foreign Minister hailed an arms deal with Russia, dismisses potential EU opposition to it, and launches a stinging attack on Croatia, accusing it of building up weapons for an attack on Serbia.

After its overwhelming win in Sunday's elections, the PSD is set to nominate a Prime Minister, although President Klaus Iohannis is refusing to accept its leader, Liviu Dragnea, owing to his two-year suspended jail sentence.

President Hashim Thaci visited a memorial to Serb war victims in Hoqa e Madhe/Velika Hoca, saying that he wanted to promote reconciliation for the sake of Kosovo’s future.

In closing arguments at Ratko Mladic’s trial, the defence said UN prosecutors did not prove the former Bosnian Serb military chief’s forces committed genocide in six Bosnian municipalities in 1992.

The start of the trial in Belgrade of eight former Bosnian Serb policemen accused of involvement in the massacre of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995 was delayed by a legal challenge.

For all the talk of Slavic, Orthodox solidarity, Russia has little to offer Serbia these days except continued support in its diplomatic battle over Kosovo.

Latest results suggest the ruling VMRO DPMNE party won slightly more votes than the opposition Social Democrats - but it remains unclear which of them will be able to form a government.

The government will change the law on benefits for Kosovo Liberation Army veterans as it cannot afford to pay the monthly pensions of 28,000 former fighters - more than were originally budgeted for.

Our team brings you live updates of the most important events and developments in the Balkans as they happen.

An OSCE survey has revealed that Albanians have very ambivalent feelings about the communist past - which has dismayed and angered victims of communist persecution.

Iconoclastic former editor of ‘Feral’ says old-style journalism is dead, Croatia’s Social Democrats should be smashed to pieces and calls Prime Minister Plenkovic a human ‘slot machine’.

According to the first exit poll, Romania’s centre-left wing Social Democrats were victorious in Sunday’s elections, winning 45.8 per cent of the votes, but will have to negotiate a coalition with a smaller party to form a majority government.

Turkish experts and citizens are pondering the security and political implications of the latest terror attacks that killed 38 in Istanbul for which Kurdish militants have claimed responsibility.