The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 28 March 2024 to 4 April 2024.
Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Balkans - 4 April 2024
Negotiators from the EU Parliament and Council gave the green light to the Commission's proposal for the Instrument that will link payments of €6 billion to the six Balkan countries to implement agreed socio-economic reforms; see here.
Serbia - 4 April 2024
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced today that authorities have apprehended two individuals suspected of the heinous murder of two-year-old Danka Ilic from the town of Bor in Eastern Serbia; see here.
Romania - 3 April 2024
A draft law empowering Romanian military intervention abroad to protect its citizens is seen as primarily concerning Moldova, where at least a million people have Romanian citizenship; see here.
Kosovo - 3 April 2024
In the first year of the trial of Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants, the Hague war crimes court has heard testimony about murder and torture, but many sessions have been held behind closed doors; see here.
Serbia - 3 April 2024
The Serbian war crimes prosecution urged Belgrade Higher Court to send nine former Yugoslav Army soldiers to jail for war crimes against civilians in four Kosovo villages around the town of Peja/Pec in the spring of 1999; see here.
Balkans - 3 April 2024
The Political Declaration of the Ministerial Conference on Restoring Justice for Ukraine held in The Hague was signed by 44 states; it expresses support for the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression and initiatives to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine; see here.
Serbia - 2 April 2024
A luxury real estate venture backed by Jared Kushner in Serbia has stoked fierce opposition from public officials and civilians who have accused Kushner of cultural insensitivity over the project; see here.
Montenegro - 1 April 2024
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic will initiate legislation to compensate former inmates of the Yugoslav Communist regime’s notorious Goli Otok (Barren Island) prison off the coast of Croatia; see here.
Bosnia - 1 April 2024
Samir Nukic was charged with inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred for writing posts on Facebook insulting Croat children who were killed in an artillery attack in the town of Vitez during wartime in 1993; see here.
Kosovo - 29 March 2024
Wartime Kosovo Liberation Army officer Salih Mustafa was ordered to give his victims over 200,000 euros after he was convicted. His apparent inability to pay the compensation has left them frustrated and the Hague court looking for a solution; see here.
Balkans - 29 March 2024
Migrants are at a major risk of becoming addicted to tranquilisers as they travel along the Balkan route, a new EUobserver investigative report has revealed. According to the report, the extensive and unregulated distribution of psychotropic drugs in reception centres is not documented in official figures; see here.
Bulgaria - 29 March 2024
Bulgaria’s Parliament hastily leapt into the process of amending laws on March 29 in a bid to resolve issues related to the process of the head of state appointing a caretaker Prime Minister; see here.