Balkans

New High Representative Miroslav Lajcak assumed the post from Christian Schwarz-Schilling during a brief ceremony Monday (July 2nd).

After two weeks of uncertainty, Feral Tribune, a political and satirical Croatian weekly, is back in business. The newspaper, praised for its public role and investigative journalism, had not been published since mid-June due to unresolved debt.

The Sava River, which runs from Slovenia through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia, where it connects with the Danube, should become completely navigable, officials from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and BiH agreed.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Bureau issued a statement on Friday (June 29th), voicing deep concern ahead of the July 11th ruling of the Libyan Supreme Court in the case of six foreign medics, who are appealing death sentences handed down in a controversial HIV infection …

EU and NATO troops on Friday (June 29th) searched the home of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic. Inside the premises, they found Karadzic’s wife Ljiljana Zelen Karadzic, his daughter Sonja and her two children.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Friday (June 29th) that Kosovo is the “biggest issue” currently affecting the Balkans.

US Ambassador to Belgrade Michael Polt said on Thursday (June 28th) there is no enmity between his country and Serbia despite their disagreements over the future status of Kosovo.

The government sailed through a no confidence vote Thursday (June 28th). The two main opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party and Croatia’s People’s Party, filed the motion citing what they described as a total failure of supervision at the Croatian Privatisation Fund (HFP).

Ramiz Delalic, a mob figure and former commander of the ninth motorised brigade of the Bosnian Muslim army, was shot to death Wednesday night (June 27th) in Sarajevo. Delalic was often referred to as the man who started the BiH conflict.

Looking back on his 18-months in office, High Representative to BiH Christian Schwarz-Schilling defended his record in an interview published on Thursday (June 28th), particularly his reluctance to use his far-reaching Bonn powers.