Balkans

Violence flared in northern Kosovo last week between ethnic Serbs and NATO’s peacekeeping mission, KFOR. The clashes left NATO troops injured, Serbia emboldened, Kosovo weakened, Russia empowered, and the transatlantic community divided.

Kosovo’s relations with its key US ally deteriorated sharply as Washington said it will impose penalties until Pristina takes measures to de-escalate the tense situation that led to violent unrest in the Serb-majority north of the country. The US ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, said on Tuesday that Washington will …

The early parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place on 11 June 2023, will be the twelfth parliamentary elections since the introduction of a multi-party system and the sixth since Montenegro gained its independence. There are around 542 thousand eligible voters registered in the central electoral roll. Montenegro has a proportional …

Thousands of citizens from all over Serbia set off for Belgrade on Friday, May 26. Their destination was “the largest gathering in the history of Serbia,” as the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) announced the Serbia Hope rally . Along several Belgrade streets and boulevards, endless columns of parked vehicles …

NATO on May 27 called on Kosovar authorities to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions in the Serb-majority northern towns after security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds in three towns and enter municipal buildings in support of recently elected ethnic Albanian mayors. The situation was …

With police brutality in the form of truncheons and spraying of tear gas in the eyes, the newly elected mayors of three municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo entered the buildings where they are supposed to establish their offices. Zubin Potok, Leposavić, Zvečan were the scene of unrest on …

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, announced last night that he is stepping down from the leadership of the SNS, and Miloš Vučević , the current Minister of Defense, was elected as the new leader of the progressive party on Saturday. At the same time, Vučić announced the establishment of …

Croatia says that a big jump in migrants and refugees being returned to Bosnia is thanks to Sarajevo finally implementing a bilateral ‘readmissions’ deal. Data from Bosnia suggests otherwise. Croatia has been sending migrants and refugees back to Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2017 on the basis of a bilateral agreement …

Elsewhere, Polish parties try to outdo each other over child handouts; the media is in the headlines in Czechia; and Slovakia’s new technocratic government gets to work. Afact-finding delegation of the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee left Budapest this week with concerns that the Hungarian government is not doing enough …

A leaked proposal by Hungary’s MVM Group that would see Serbia cede much of its hydropower resources has been seized on by the Serbian opposition and energy experts as another damaging consequence of the close ties between the countries’ leaders. Energy experts and opposition politicians in Serbia are accusing the …