Balkans

One man was wounded in Novi Pazar overnight on Monday in a shoot-out between two men supporting rival political and religious factions in the local Bosniak community. Police arrested a 38-year old man on suspicion that he attempted to murder 27-year old Nermin Ademovic, who suffered injuries in the stomach, …

The refusal of managers at Belgrade’s Sava Centar congress hall to allow a venue booking by a Serbian gay rights group has sparked a debate on the marginalisation of sexual minorities in the country, with Serbia’s Human Rights Ministry saying the Sava Center management should resign or be dismissed for …

Serbia was second only to the United States in terms of arms exports to Israel between 2004 and 2007, according to an Amnesty International briefing document. The document states that, according to UN figures, the U.S. supplied Israel with $1.3 billion worth of arms in the 2004-07 period while the …

The protection of property rights still remains a challenge for Macedonia and most of the Balkans, the 2009 rankings on the International Property Rights Index shows. The Index incorporates 10 variables, divided into three main components: legal and political environment, physical property rights and intellectual property rights.

Despite the global financial turmoil, Romania expects to have around 1.5-1.8 billion euros worth of investment this year in the energy sector alone, Economy Minister Adriean Videanu said on Wednesday. “The money will come from government and private investments, and we will encourage new private initiatives,” Videanu told participants of …

Unlicensed Serbian and Albanian mobile phone companies that operate in Kosovo illegally are denting the profits of legal operators and hurting the Kosovo budget, industry officials said on Wednesday. Authorities have found that Serbia’s MTS operator, and Albanian mobile operators AMC and Kosmofon often used the frequencies of state mobile …

Although thousands of Serbian companies owe billions of dinars in taxes to the state and some of them have had their bank accounts blocked for many months, authorities in Belgrade are reluctant to launch bankrupcy proceedings since that would end up costing more for the budget, a senior tax official …

Seven Bosnian Serb officials pressed charges against themselves on Monday in what they said was a symbolic gesture of support to Republika Srpska Premier Milorad Dodik, who is facing corruption charges in a controversial case that has shaken Bosnia’s political scene The group, which included two advisors and five deputies …

Albanian police shut down the country’s only film school, the Marubi Academy, on Tuesday arresting its dean and several students over a property dispute with the Ministry of Culture. The dispute concerns property that the academy, headed by filmmaker Kujtim Cashku, occupies in the state-owned film Alba Film studios. Cashku …

Dozens of former Kosovo Protection Corps members who did not get accepted into the newly formed Kosovo Security Force, KSF, attempted to break into KSF’s headquarters on Monday, but were stopped by police The NATO-sponsored KSF, an army in all but name, replaced the Kosovo Protection Corps, KPC, the territory’s …