Balkans

As Jewish and Roma officials win a major victory in Strasbourg against Bosnian constitutional discrimination, which should pave the way for the ‘Others’ to participate in government, recent history indicates that the Court’s decision is unlikely to be implemented, Anes Alic writes for ISN Security Watch. The European Court of …

Great Britain and Hungary want Macedonia to join EU and NATO, support setting a date for accession talks with EU and hope Macedonia to find an acceptable name solution, British Foreign Minister David Miliband and Hungarian President László Sólyom said in their letters send to Macedonia President Gjorgje Ivanov.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she does not have much hope for a quick European Union accession for Bosnia-Herzegovina. After meeting with Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency head Željko Komšić in Berlin, she said that “a very long road” is ahead of Bosnia towards EU membership. Without changes to the Constitution, which …

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor and his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor said Wednesday they were ready to clear the way for Zagreb’s EU membership talks next month. “My wish is that, by the next EU-Croatia accession conference in February, we can solve at least two of the three open issues,” …

A Zagreb county court began hearing on Tuesday an investigation about war crimes committed in the village Grubori, near Knin, in August 1995 during the military operation code named Oluja (Storm). The court heard the first five of about 70 witnesses that will be called, according the media. Zeljko Sacic, …

A Swedish citizen of Bosnian origin was arrested Tuesday in relation to war crimes charges, according to local media. The identity of the person who was arrested in northern Sweden is still not known to the public, except that he is 43 years old and served as a guard at …

In its latest report the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina, OSCE, says that pressure on the work of judicial institutions goes beyond “acceptable criticism” and that accusations that war-crimes trials are motivated by ethnic affiliation are groundless. “These statements exceed the limits of acceptable …

Antonio Cassese, the first president of the ICTY, in an interview for International Justice Tribune, said it would have been better from the outset to appoint a legal counsel for Karadzic. “In many European countries, in criminal cases any defendant must be assisted by a defence counsel. This is a …

Head of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said that Serbia has to decide on its own whether it wants to join NATO. He added however that he doubts that the Serb people, after the tragedy they endured during the Alliance bombing of 1999, would want to join …

Serbian and Croatian Presidents Boris Tadić and Ivo Josipović could meet on January 18, the inauguration day of the new Croatian leader. Josipović announced that we will be meeting with his Serbian counterpart soon.