Balkans

After the latest in a decade-long series of unsuccessful attempts to pass a law banning the denial of the Srebrenica genocide, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top international official could take action to impose legislation from above. At a session last week of the Bosnian parliament’s House of Peoples, Serb and Croat …

A report funded by the government of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity claims Serbs were subjected to ethnic cleansing in wartime Sarajevo, but its allegations differ from facts established by courts about crimes during the siege. The allegations in the report published this month by the Commission for Investigating the …

There is no legislation preventing freed war criminals from being elected to office or appointed to a public service job in Bosnia and Herzegovina – but experts warn that the situation causes fear among war victims and undermines the rule of law. etails of the crimes of Blagoje Simic, a …

Authorities look determined to equip the Balkan country’s outdated military with modern weapon systems – even if some query the cost in a time of economic difficulty. NATO’s newest member state, North Macedonia, which joined the alliance last year, is on the way to modernising its military, though doing so …

In 2018, Albanian prosecutors dropped a money laundering probe into Ylli Didani. Less than two years later, he was arrested in the US on charges of trafficking significant amounts of cocaine to Europe and laundering the proceeds. At first glance, Michigan resident Ylli Didani was a successful businessman with stakes …

Serbs who fought for Moscow-backed militias in the conflict in eastern Ukraine say they are ready to take up arms again as a massive Russian military build-up on the border raises fears of more violence. As the simmering conflict in Ukraine heats up again, there have been indications that volunteer …

The explosion was massive, blowing out windows of houses kilometers away, leaving a smoldering crater in the eastern Czech forest, not far from the border with Slovakia. The blast, on October 16, 2014, destroyed a cache of ammunition and related weaponry. The bodies of two men who worked at the …

Top foreign affairs officials of Israel, Greece, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates meet in Cyprus. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met April 16 in Paphos, Cyprus with Cypriot, Greek and Emirati officials in the first such meeting of its kind. Ashkenazi met in person with Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos …

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in Egypt on Sunday during a tour leading up to a visit to Saudi Arabia. It comes within the framework of a diplomatic move by Athens against the backdrop of the situation in Libya and tension with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean. Dendias tweeted …

A phantom document proposing controversial border changes across the Western Balkans caused a political storm in the region and in Brussels this week. While most EU officials had little knowledge of the elusive document, the office of European Council President Charles Michel could not deny receiving it. EURACTIV took a …