Balkans

Opposition and government point fingers after the EU Council of Ministers on Tuesday said Albania had made little progress towards membership.

Albania will only be able to move forward towards EU membership when it starts showing more progress on its reform agenda, the Council of Ministers underlined on Tuesday.

A Turkish brand of Islam now dominates the country’s religious institutions, as local Muslims struggle to find their own spiritual path.

New agreement on border control-free travel between Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro brings Balkans closer to establishing EU-style Schengen zone.

Balkan Insight has learned that key evidence shot by security cameras in the Prime Minister’s office during the January 21 riots was destroyed in the aftermath of the protest.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has dismissed Dick Marty’s report on organ trafficking during the Kosovo war, saying it was influenced by Belgrade.

MEPs from the joint EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Committee warned Tirana on Friday to speed up reforms or risk missing out on the integration process.

Dozens of homes have been destroyed in landslides caused by the unseasonal deluge in Bosnia and Herzegovina while many roads remain blocked throughout the country.

The Islamic Community in Tuzla said Muslims in Zvornik, a town in Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, were increasingly the victims of both verbal and physical attacks.

Tuzla residents commemorated the anniversary of the Brcanska Malta battle in 1992, when 37 people died as local police in the north-eastern town fought the Yugoslav People’s Army.