Balkans

An in-depth interview with Luka Zanoni, editor-in-chief of OBCT, collected by the Bosnian portal Buka: from political developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the hypocrisy of EU policy towards South-Eastern Europe, passing through the student protests in Serbia as a possible turning point (Originally published by the web portal Buka …

A draft statute obtained by BIRN suggests Kosovo’s president will press ahead with a ‘presidential’ commission on Kosovo’s 1998-99 war, ignoring experts who say it risks being seen as ‘highly political’. Kosovo’s president is poised to launch a ‘transitional justice’ commission with a three-year mandate and the possibility of survivors …

Dodik’s refusal to abide by the court ruling, his renewed threats of secession and further severing of ties with the central state have created the worst crisis in Bosnia since the war, when some 100,000 people died. Bosniak Munira Dzabija, originally from Sarajevo, regularly visits the village of Omacina, where …

When a US lawyer, Martin De Luca, visited Bosnia’s Serb-led entity, Republika Srpska, in April, the entity’s publicly-funded media outlets reported that he was a member of a US administration team investigating the alleged misspending spending of funds by aid agency USAID in Bosnia and Herzegovina. De Luca himself said …

Kosovo continues to face significant obstacles on its path to EU membership. To move forward, Prishtina must revive its dialogue with Belgrade, while the union should provide a clear road map for easing its punitive measures against the country. Kosovo has lately ceased to generate angst-ridden headlines in international media. …

The situation remains very combustible and could easily explode at the slightest spark. Russia and the US rarely agree on much, but their top diplomats just sounded the alarm about Syria, which should convince objective observers that there’s credence to their warnings. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that “The situation …

Kosovo has lately ceased to generate angst-ridden headlines in international media. The situation in and around the Western Balkan country appears to be stable. After a violent standoff in the northern village of Banjska in September 2023, tensions with Serbia have gone down a notch or two. In recent weeks, …

The US Senatorial model can pave the way for constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina that satisfies European human rights law and the concerns of the fractious parties. Instead of abolishing the country’s House of Peoples – the Senate-like upper chamber designed to protect collective rights – a Trump Plan …

Success in the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue would demonstrate the EU’s relevance as a strategic actor, just as it is being questioned elsewhere. At a critical geopolitical juncture, the European Union finds itself navigating crises on multiple fronts. In Ukraine, its influence remains secondary to that of the US and Russia; tensions …

In the May 11 parliamentary elections, Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama secured another decisive victory, reinforcing a dominance built over three consecutive terms. His machinery of consensus is stronger than ever, but the lines between the state and the party appear increasingly blurred After three consecutive terms in power, Albanian …