Balkaninsight.com

The three main Albanian parties in Montenegro have decided to run together in the October elections in a coalition - which experts say sets a pattern that Albanians in nearby Macedonia would do well to follow.

The Bosnian Serbs' historic allies, Serbia and Russia, appear increasingly divided over the controversial referendum set to take place on Sunday, with Moscow openly backing the vote.

Kosovo students have been protesting against a Serbian Orthodox Church that stands on the Pristina University campus, claiming that it is a symbol of Slobodan Milosevic’s repressive regime.

Socialist MEP says Bulgarian nationalists are using anti-refugee protests to whip up support for their candidate in the presidential elections in November.

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

Romania’s first ethnic-minority president was elected on an anti-corruption platform but critics say Iohannis is yet to deliver on his campaign pledges.  

That a million fewer Croatian voters cast ballots in the latest elections than they did in 2000 shows that people increasingly feel ‘real power’ has moved out of politics, a political sciences professor told BIRN.

Macedonia's parliament looks set to turn a deaf ear to renewed calls by the Special Prosecution, SJO, to change and improve the law on witness protection.

Serbian politicians joined several hundred LGBT rights supporters on a march through the Serbian capital on Sunday for the Pride Parade, which concluded without any incidents – although many criticised the organisation of the event.

The Belgrade Pride Parade will be held on Sunday, and while the police will be on hand to ensure security, neither they nor the organisers of the event expect any trouble.

The state-level Constitutional Court ruled in favour of a request from Bosniak politicians and temporarily banned an ethnically-divisive referendum planned by Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska.

Kosovo has expelled a Russian and a Ukrainian journalist on Friday after police found them in the country without visas.

A group of students at Pristina University has demanded that a Serbian Orthodox church that stands on the university campus should be demolished or turned into student facilities.

Parents expressed concerns after the Sarajevo Canton prime minister announced that children will be taught about war crimes and other atrocities committed in the city during the 1990s conflict.

The crash of an Italian plane - reportedly carrying drugs - in the Ishem area of Albania has become the subject of numerous conflicting claims between politicians and journalists.

Croatian Serb leader says minority MPs are ready to back a government led by the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, as long as extreme rightwingers are excluded.

NATO’s Deputy Secretary General tells BIRN that the alliance is facing up to new challenges, as the crackdown on government opponents in Turkey and tensions between the West and Russia continue.

After international diplomacy failed to halt an ethnically-divisive referendum planned by Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, its opponents hope that the country’s Constitutional Court can find a last-minute solution.

Serbia’s opposition Democratic Party is seeking the termination of a cooperation agreement between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates, claiming it is unconstitutional and harmful.

Bosnian authorities are checking up on the citizenships of around 19,000 people who acquired Bosnian nationality – but, only weeks before the deadline expires, few of them have presented the necessary documents.