Balkans

Bosnian justice minister Barisa Colak admitted that the country had not gone far enough to meet its goals in prosecuting people suspected of crimes committed during the 1992-95 conflict.

Trpe Stojanovski, director of the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative, tells Balkan Insight that Balkan countries cannot deal with rapidly rising migrant numbers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The High Representative has raised the issue of residence checks in Republika Srpska in a meeting in Washington, while the Bosnian Croat Presidency member said the new rules had been rushed through ahead of the general election.

The genocide trial of former Bosnian Serb fighter Aleksandar Cvetkovic heard how a young Bosniak survived because the body of a dead prisoner shielded him from gunfire.

Bulgaria and Bosnia could be be left without natural gas supplies if Russia halts deliveries via Ukraine, the President of the Russian Gas Society has warned.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic paid his first official visit abroad to Sarajevo on Tuesday, aiming to foster economic and political ties with the neighbouring country.

Police detained Emir Pajazetovic on suspicion of injuring about 30 people when he allegedly threw an explosive device into a disco in Velika Kladusa after being thrown out of the club.

Former policemen Nedjelko Kuljic and Zeljko Ilic, accused of wartime crimes including the torture and murder of non-Serbs in Bileca in 1992, insisted they were innocent.

Former Croatian Defence Council fighter Vid Palameta was indicted for alleged crimes against Bosniak civilians held prisoner at the Dretelj detention camp in the summer of 1993.

Snakes from former Yugoslavia that are allegedly capable of crushing children to death are causing alarm in a plush part of central London.