Eurasia

The head of the Army’s Secret Service, Colonel Ylli Zyla, resigned on Thursday following media reports linking his wife to arms traders.“I am resigning to protect my integrity, the integrity of my family and the integrity of the army’s secret service as an institution part of NATO member state,” Zyla …

Srebrenica mayoral candidate Camil Durakovic and his campaign manager Emir Suljagic said the October local elections represent a critical point not only for the iconic town but also for the country.“The war is not over,” Suljagic told students attending a two week summer university in Srebrenica, occurring during the annual …

The OSCE Chairmanship representative has welcomed Montenegro’s democratic reforms but urged further action in the fight against organized crime and corruption.The representative of the Irish chair of the OSCE, Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, welcomed Montenegro’s progress in democratic reforms during a visit to Podgorica on Thursday.

New Minister of Interior Flamur Noka on Thursday admitted that stopping the cultivation of drugs was a challenge – but promised a war without tolerance or compromise.“The cultivation of narcotics in the country remains one of the key challenges facing the state police and the community,” Minister Noka told the …

Unidentified individuals have stoned the municipal building in the Serb-run northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica but nobody was injured.The stones broke a window on the Serb municipal building in the divided town of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, at around midnight. Two security guards were inside the building at the time …

Anti-government campaign takes on a more musical flavour with the launch of a month-long arts programme.The NGO, the Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector, MANS, the main organizer of frequent civic protests in Montenegro, has announced the launch of a series of cultural events under the name of Resistance Month. …

The latest addition to the grand revamp of the Macedonian capital known as Skopje 2014 will be a brand new building for the Central Bank.Macedonia’s Central Bank plans to swap its modernist headquarters for a new one that will match the profile of the city’s grand makeover, known as Skopje …

Efforts to strike a deal in the parliamentary commission tasked with improving the electoral code have run again into the sand without a comprehensive agreement on reforms.Speaking to fellow Democratic Party MPs, Prime Minister Sali Berisha said on Tuesday that the ruling centre-right coalition had made efforts to accommodate opposition …

Three ministries have received poor ratings from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Audit Agency for failing to control or document out-of-control expenses.On telephone conversations alone, Bosnia’s Foreign Ministry spent 1.5 million Bosnian convertible marks, BAM, or roughly €750,000, the audit agency said. Of the 71 institutions financed from the state budget, the …

Former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor testified on Tuesday at the corruption trial of her own party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and of its previous leader, Ivo Sanader, denying all knowledge of so-called party slush funds.Kosor was among dozens of witnessess to testify in the biggest case in Croatian legal …