Balkans

Poor infrastructure and lack of space are some of the biggest problems in the country’s judicial system, an NGO report says.A report on trial monitoring by a Montenegrin NGO, the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, CEDEM, says the principles of publicity, presumption of innocence and right to efficient defence …

Bulgaria believes that all Balkan countries must join NATO and the EU, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said on a state visit to Tirana on Monday.Borisov spoke during a joint press conference with his Albanian counterpart, Sali Berisha. He stressed that his cabinet and country adhere consistently to a balanced …

Six former political prisoners on Monday ended a month-long hunger strike, which aimed to pressure the government to speed up reparations for their suffering under the Communists.“We are tired because of the psychological terror we were subjected too,” Afrim Biturku, one of the strikers, said, ending the strike. “But we …

Energtek Inc. (Pink Sheets: EGTK), a leader in hi-tech natural gas solutions and Adsorbed Natural Gas (ANG) technology, announced today that the company’s subsidiary in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been granted financing of €1MM from the Sarajevo branch of Raiffeisen Bank, to complete the implementation of the company’s commercial natural …

The Bulgaria for Citizens party of former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva has proposed the establishment of a new ministerial portfolio for Bulgaria’s Severozapaden (northwestern) region, the poorest NUTS 2 region in the EU.

Eighteen police officers and 10 activists from Vetevendosje, the Kosovan opposition party, have been injured during a protest against the Kosovo – Serbia talks.The protests in Pristina’s Mother Teresa square are continuing, and large numbers of police reinforcements have been brought in to protect the security perimeter. The protesters are …

Croatian leaders have removed the country’s head of national security following a phone-tapping scandal, while insisting the police did not violate any laws.Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said on Monday they had decided to remove Petar Misevic as head of the Office of the National Security …

Twenty years after 16 people were abducted and killed by Serbian paramilitaries, the families of the victims have still not received any reparations, as the state does not recognize them as civilian victims of war.On October 22 in 1992, 16 Bosniaks from the village of Sjeverin in the Sandzak area …

At the trial for war crimes committed at the Croatian military prison Kerestinec, a witness testified that the prison commander, Stjepan Klaric, admitted that the prisoners were abused.Testifying on Friday at the trial of the Kerestinec prison commander, Klaric, and his four subordinates, Ivan Ivankovic, a former officer of the …

Prosecutors have charged former Interior Minister Ljube Boskoski with assisting in the murder in 2001 of two people, naming three Serbian citizens as direct perpetrators.The indictment, filed before the Criminal Court in Skopje, included 15 people who helped in the planning, execution and cover-up of the double murder of Marjan …