Balkans

A Sarajevo court upheld the jailing of a Bosnian Serb army officer over the 1995 Srebrenica killings but cut his sentence.The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court endorsed the conviction of Slavko Peric, a former assistant commander, but reduced his prison sentence from 19 to 11 years. It also …

Majority of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina would leave the country at the first opportunity for a better education and the chance of a job.Most young people in Bosnia would leave the country for good if they could, because they do not see any kind of future for themselves, …

Kosovo’s President has expressed readiness to meet her Serbian counterpart – in the context of a meeting between ‘presidents of two sovereign and independent states’.Arber Vllahiu, President Atifete Jahjaga’s spokesperson, told Balkan Insight that the two leaders would meet “as presidents of sovereign and independent states” to support the EU-led …

The train once used by the former Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz Tito, is now taking tourists from Serbia to Montenegro.It was a train that once carried monarchs and world leaders. But now holidaymakers, keen on learning more about the history of former Yugoslavia, can take a trip in the ex-President’s …

The president of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity said it would not allow the country to recognise Kosovo as independent.Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska, RS, said he had been personally subjected to “enormous pressure in order for Bosnia to recognise Kosovo in the euphoria surrounding the acknowledgment of Kosovo’s …

The Hague Tribunal was wrong to acquit two Croatian generals of war crimes, the court’s chief prosecutor says.Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac were acquitted in November of war crimes committed during the Croatian military operation codenamed ‘Oluja’ [‘Storm’] in 1995, overturning a previous guilty verdict from the International Criminal …

Macedonia’s top general wants conscripts to bolster the country’s cash-strapped forces, but the defence minister disagrees.The head of the army’s general staff, General Goranco Koteski, said that conscription could boost Macedonia’s security but defence minister Fatmir Besimi rejected the idea of reintroducing non-professional soldiers. “We should remain consistent to our …

Ivica Dacic and Zoran Milanovic are expected to meet soon, ‘on neutral ground’, with a view to bridging the widening divide between Zagreb and Belgrade.Serbia’s Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic, says he expects to meet his Croatian counterpart, Zoran Milanovic, in the first half of 2013. “I believe it is important …

An IMF audit mission, which is coming to eveluate to Romania’s economic performance, is seen as posing a major credibility test for Prime Minister Victor Ponta.A team of auditors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, IMF, is to come to Bucharest on January 15 to discuss the country’s …

Belgrade wants to revise ‘absurd’ deals with its neighbours to share out property once owned by Yugoslavia.“The previous government made some absurd concessions,” said Oliver Antic, a presidential adviser who heads the current Belgrade administration’s body dealing with property issues arising from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. He cited …