Balkan News

As Bosnia awaits the formation of new governments after recent elections, the main Serbian and Croatian parties on Monday announced a coalition agreement at all levels of government.

Croatian jurist and ex-President Ivo Josipovic told BIRN that a Zagreb court’s decision to reduce the prison sentence given to former Croatian Defence Council officer Marko Radic does not reflect the gravity of his crime.

Publicity-addicted Albanian gangsters have caused more media fury in Britain by boasting of their ill-gotten gains on social media.

Open letter with 700 signatories accuses the Croatian media of fomenting fear and prejudice through false and one-sides reports on migrants and refugees.

When four Serbian criminals with South African links were murdered in interlinked shootings, media speculated it was revenge for the killing of wartime paramilitary boss Arkan, but the murders actually showed how violence follows Serbian gangsters wherever they go.

Celebrations – or lack of them – across the former Yugoslavia marking a hundred years since the end of World War I reveal diverging memories of the conflict.

While migrants and refugees pile up in Bosnia, becoming prime targets for smugglers, only a handful of smuggling cases has ended in a court conviction.

Romania's EU Affairs minister and coordinator of the EU Council presidency preparations resigned after a cabinet meeting, the country's government confirmed on Saturday. 

The OSCE gave an international award to pupils who staged protests and managed to stop the proposed ethnic segregation of a school in the Bosnian town of Jajce.

Business magnate Orce Kamcev is at the centre of a big criminal investigation launched on Friday by Macedonia's Special Prosecution in charge of investigating high-level crime.

In closing arguments at the retrial of the Bosnian Army’s former commander in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, the defence said that he should be acquitted of killing three Serb prisoners of war in 1992.

The village of Ksamil in southern Albania was the only Balkan destination to make it into booking.com’s latest top ten must-see places.

The main Kosovo Serb party, Srpska Lista, has warned of protests if Kosovo does not rescind the 10-per-cent tariff imposed on imports from Serbia.

Appeal Court on Friday rejected former prime minister's appeal for a postponement of his two-year jail sentence – after parliament earlier failed to strip him of his MP's mandate.

Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch on Thursday said he would not oppose Kosovo and Serbia changing their borders – if this formed part of a mutually agreed, non-violent comprehensive settlement.

A Romanian investigative project has accused the ruling party of intimidation, after the state data protection agency threatened it with a large fine, for using personal data in articles.

Poland’s nationalist rulers are “playing with fascist fire” in their tolerance of right-wing extremism, and this Sunday’s independence centenary is a major test, says Polish writer Ziemowit Szczerek.

A Zagreb court’s decision to reduce former Bosnian Croat battalion commander Marko Radic’s war crimes sentence caused concerns that other Bosnian convicts with Croatian passports might ask for a transfer to Croatia in search of shorter sentences.

Moves to lure foreign investors with citizenship offers may bring in some extra cash – but risk further tarnishing Moldova’s already damaged credibility, experts say. 

Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli would rather focus on convincing the rest of the EU countries to recognise Kosovo than pushing for border changes as part of a deal with with Serbia, he told BIRN.