Balkaninsight.com

Between the celebrations of the Eastern and Western Easters, we bring a patchwork of stories from the region ranging from the problems plaguing northern Kosovo to Turkish citizens rediscovering their Balkan roots.

Republika Srpska has set aside about 10,000 euros this year for Bosnian Serbs indictees in the custody of the Hague war crimes tribunal.

On the Christian holy day of Maundy Thursday, which falls on April 5 this year for Orthodox believers, Romanians in the country’s south attend a prayer for the dead. 

The Kosovo Assembly is establishing an inquiry committee to investigate the controversial deportation of six Turkish citizens last week.

Opposition supporters across the country have blocked main roads, cashing in on popular anger over the controversial toll charges on the highway to Kosovo.

As the special war crimes court gets underway, a group of war veterans says any crimes committed during the Kosovo war were isolated incidents – and these criminals should face justice.

The US Justice Department has filed lawsuits against two Bosniaks for fraudulently obtaining refugee status and US citizenship after failing to admit their past war crimes.

Publication of Turkish citizens ancestral roots' online database prompts many Turks to obtain second citizenship in the lands from which their ancestors emigrated long ago.

After Serbia and Russia announced a new deal on military aircraft and tanks, Vlade Radulovic from the Atlantic Council of Serbia said it is good news for Serbia – although it is time that Serbia invested more in the military's human resources.

From Bosnia to Kosovo, Vucic’s Serbia is pushing its reckless agenda – and no one looks minded to stop him.

Sarajevans gathered on Wednesday to commemorate the 1,601 child victims of the 1992-96 siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war, releasing doves to honour their memory and planting a rose for every child killed.

Hundreds of police surrounded the courthouse in Tirana on Wednesday as a judge validated prosecutors' request for the arrest of about 10 people involved in last Saturday's violent protest against tolls on the Albania-Kosovo highway.

The Special Court in Belgrade on Wednesday found seven people guilty of terrorism and cooperation with jihadi groups in Syria and Iraq.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister has denied that Kosovo's attendance at the May summit in Sofia, the highlight of Sofia’s EU Presidency, will result in some countries boycotting it.

Macedonia has formally apologised to Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese origin, for helping the CIA to kidnap him 14 years ago under a false pretext of him being a terrorist.

The honeymoon may be over for Zoran Zaev, but the language law, the agreement with Bulgaria, and the attempt to resolve the ‘name’ dispute with Greece are major achievements, Sweden’s ambassador to Macedonia, Mats Staffansson, says.

The sacking of the Interior Minister over the deportation of six Turks, and the earlier arrest and deporation of a top Serbian official, have shaken Ramush Haradinaj's weak coalition government.

Exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen has accused Turkish President Erdogan of 'hijacking' the Turkish nationals deported recently from Kosovo.

Frequent unresolved arson attacks on cars owned by police officers, politicians, journalists and entrepreneurs underline the powerlessness of official institutions in the Serb-run north of Kosovo. 

Despite having earlier said that the government sought a stake in the sale of the Czech energy company CEZ, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov on Tuesday told a special parliamentary committee that the state now seeks no part in the company.