Balkan News

Some candidates running for this weekend’s general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been accused of glorifying criminals by praising wartime leaders like Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic during their campaigns.

Allegations of potential massive election fraud have marked the last days the campaign ahead of polling day on October 7 – despite the reassurances of competent electoral bodies. 

Analysts say expectations of a huge turnout by ethnic Albanians in Macedonia’s ‘name’ referendum were misplaced. Their turnout matched previous elections, and was not to blame for the referendum’s failure to cross the 50 per cent threshold.

The real dangers to the Romanian family are not same-sex marriage but shocking poverty rates, a culture of domestic violence and a chronic lack of support for battered women. 

Ukraine wants a UN peacekeeping mission in its eastern Donbass region, but Serbia rejects a US claim it is ready to take part.

OSCE condemns “irresponsible” tweet by the journalist of the Macedonian state news agency.

Four former members of the Bosnian Army were jailed on Tuesday for a combined total of 27 years for crimes against Bosnian Croat civilians in the village of Kruscica, near Vitez, during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.

Macedonia’s prime minister says he wants parliament to endorse the country’s ‘name’ deal with Greece, but is ready to go to voters again to get the two-thirds majority he needs.

European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans warned Romania’s government on Monday that it might end up in court if it continues its policies to relax the fight against corruption. 

Kosovo's Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri had  handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, with reports citing ‘political interference in judicial processes’.

Sunday’s referendum may have ‘failed’ in terms of the turnout – but the government should still press on with trying to get the Greek deal adopted  – and the opposition should stop its posturing and support it.

As elections approach – and as the chasm between Brussels and Chisinau widens – Russia is pushing again for a federalization plan that would cement its influence over Moldova, experts say.  

Damon Wilson, from the Atlantic Council, said the ‘yes’ team had run up against a more aggressive boycott campaign than expected – but there was still a chance that parliament could confirm the deal.

Thousands of accredited observers will be monitoring Bosnia's October elections – after a campaign overshadowed by numerous allegations of fraud and manipulation.

Nobody in Macedonia’s ‘Yes’ campaign really expected to cross the required 50-per-cent threshold – but they certainly hoped for a higher turnout than they got.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said he will ask the Russian President for more support over the Kosovo issue – while advising the West to learn lessons from the failed referendum in Macedonia.

Bulgaria's government is weighing up offers from the US, Sweden and Italy as it moves to rejuvenate its ageing air force.

Austria proposes to put World War II-era Ustasa insignia on its list of banned symbols, but an Austrian anti-nationalist organisation warned that not all Croatian fascist symbols might be prohibited.

A report by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees said that many people who were displaced from Kosovo following the 1990s conflict have no income or adequate housing.

After voters in Macedonia’s referendum on Sunday supported the ‘name’ deal with Greece – but with a low turnout that rendered the result invalid – Macedonia's PM said that if he did not succeed in persuading some opposition MPs to support the deal, he would call an election.