Ekrem Imamoglu’s chances of contesting the Turkish presidency look less likely after a court rejected his appeal to overturn an earlier ruling that revoked his university diploma.
Playing tour guide over the weekend to various buildings renovated using billions in taxpayer money, Magyar said his government will keep the building previously used as the Prime Minister’s Office open to the public.
Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.
As Christian Schmidt readies to quit as High Representative, Europe and its allies must resolutely push for a powerful successor – and forget ‘compromising’ with a United States that has radically shifted position in the region.
Lejla Dauti and Leonarda Demolli migrated to the UK from Kosovo as children where their experience of gender freedom led them to found a podcast sharing the voices of Albanian women who still confront ‘patriarchy sugar-coated in tradition’.
Albania has greenlighted construction of a luxury island resort by a company linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law - but under the azure waters lie tonnes of unexploded WWII ordnance.
Businessman Blerim Devolli’s defamation lawsuit against BIRN Kosovo over a 2020 investigation revealing shell companies set up to profit from solar energy is dismissed after he fails to appear in court.
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is on the rise across Europe, despite stronger equal rights laws.
While the prize of EU membership is coming within grasping distance for Montenegro, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week highlights the uncertainties facing other countries in the region.
Belgrade prosecution says police chief Veselin Milic has been detained for 48 hours over missing person and alleged shooting at restaurant – as Serbia's Interior Ministry says he is 'no longer head' of the capital's police.
Extensive injuries sustained in a police crackdown on anti-government protesters in the western Serbian town of Valjevo in August last year show the use of force was often ‘punitive’ rather than an immediate response to danger, according to a report compiled by forensic medicine experts.
Albanian law students from North Macedonia say they should be allowed to take the bar exam in their mother tongue. The dispute speaks to a broader problem of unfulfilled language rights.
The crisis in Romania is not the government’s fall – but the creation of a dangerous governance vacuum that no mainstream parties seem willing to fill.
Elsewhere, Magyar sworn in as new Hungarian PM and holds first cabinet meeting; Trump ally tipped as new US ambassador to Slovakia; Czech president and PM still at odds over who should attend NATO summit in Ankara.
Bosnian Serb wartime military chief Ratko Mladic’s plea for release on humanitarian grounds due to his deteriorating health was rejected on the grounds that he is getting high-quality medical care in detention.
Weeks before snap elections in Kosovo, a claim that the Mayor of Skenderaj attacked a senior official of the ruling Vetevendosje party in the town centre raises tensions.
A driver accused of reversing into an elderly man at a commemorative protest vigil in central Belgrade has been held on suspicion of aggravated attempted murder.
Remains of fleeing Croat fighters and civilians executed by Yugoslav Partisans at close of World War II were handed over in the first such transfer between Croatia and Slovenia.
Montenegro has a different relationship to its socialist past than some other ex-Yugoslav republics, but that doesn’t mean its anti-fascist monuments aren’t neglected or that revisionism is not a threat.
Prosecutors dropped a probe into the alleged smuggling of Russian oil through an Albanian port in 2023, but behind the vessel in question lies a network of individuals and companies linked by Ukrainian intelligence agents to an alleged ‘shadow fleet’ used by Russia to bypass sanctions and finance its war in Ukraine.
The opposition sees the desertion of some of its mayors and councillors to join Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP as part of a government strategy aimed at weakening local resistance and consolidating power.
Meeting in Romania ahead of the July's NATO summit in Ankara, 14 member countries called for closer coordination on regional security along the alliance's eastern flank to counter the continuing threat from Russia.
Security Agency cuts off funded security for political heavyweights Delyan Peevski and Boyko Borissov – as some question whether they were entitled to such services in the first place.
Poland's largest crypto exchange has a missing founder, suspected ties to Russian organised crime and a CEO who made large payments to right-wing politicians – all while the president blocked the law designed to regulate the market.
The EU feels a spring in its step as it readies to accept its first new member since 2013 – a decision of enormous symbolic weight, which will also set important precedents.
Abandoned by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Kosovo's ex-President Vjosa Osmani has returned to the opposition party she left six years ago. But will the rapprochement help or hinder the LDK come elections in June?
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers said a review commissioned by the Kosovo Ombudsperson does not establish that the rights of defendants at the Hague-based war crimes court were violated, contrary to media reports.
Christian Schmidt’s departure as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s international peace overseer risks adding to the country’s instability – and fuelling calls for the High Representative office’s abolition.
New report says Bosnia’s only centre for the detention of migrants and refugees operates without clear oversight and transparency and in violation of international standards, especially concerning the detention of minors.
In a report, HRW urges the EU Commission to strengthen due diligence and transparency rules after finding surveillance tech produced by EU companies is being exported to states with poor human rights records.
Families who stored their children’s stem cells are struggling to trace the companies entrusted with their samples.
In northern Kosovo, an English-language public college has become a shared space for Albanians, Serbs and other students, challenging those who claim integration is not possible.
Rumen Radev's new government pledges to tackle soaring prices by forcing large retailers to prove sudden rises are economically justified – not rooted in speculation.
Court sentences Dusko Zoric to 15 years in prison for involvement in a Bosnian Serb Army assault that killed several civilians in Zecovi near Prijedor in July 1992.
Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.
German diplomat Christian Schmidt quits as overseer of Bosnia and Herzegovina's peace deal – as Bosnian Serb leaders celebrate departure of figure they long opposed.
Pro-Israel Czechia may provide US rapper and ‘reformed antisemite’ Kanye West oddly favourable ground to return to the European stage this summer.
As the verdict in the case against Hashim Thaci and his co-defendants at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers approaches, a difficult question comes into focus: what is achieved when justice is delivered in a form that the affected society largely rejects?
A new BIRN survey shows the impact of menopause on women’s professional, social and sex lives in Greece, as many suffer in silence and experts call for greater support from the authorities.
While some events covered in our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week suggest that possible changes are afoot, other parts of the region seem stuck in the same rut.
Osijek court sentences Zeljko Travica to 20 years in prison for war crimes committed in Ceric and Mirkovci in 1991, when captured Croat fighters were abused and executed by Serb forces.
In Romania, the Social Democrats joined forces with the far right to bring down the pro-EU government. Elsewhere, some mainstream parties are considering deals, or already cooperating with, parties they previously saw as too radical.
Eleven players withdrew from the Olympic gold-winning men’s national team while the head coach resigned after criticism from the new Federation chief sparked anger.
New government headed by ex-President Rumen Radev officially assumed office on Friday, with its anti-corruption mandate already facing scrutiny.
Elsewhere, Poland’s institutional crisis continues to disrupt workings of state; Congress of Sudeten Germans set to take place in Czechia prompts protests; and Slovak judges issue warning over political attacks on judicial independence.
Controversy surrounding the appointment of new members to North Macedonia’s Anti-Discrimination Commission has raised fears that this key human rights body will once more be steered away from protecting the vulnerable to serving political interests.
The fall from power of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party threatens its satellite in Serbia, which was not only loyal to Viktor Orban, but also to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Land in Bosnia is being bought up by firms founded with Gulf capital, cleared of trees and sold to Gulf buyers, often Kuwaitis, for new homes that, by law, can’t be built, BIRN and ARIJ can reveal.
Central Election Commission schedules elections at several levels for October 4, while preparing to introduce new biometric voter identification and ballot-scanning technology.
The landmark ruling in the Yasak case has turned the spotlight on the Turkish authorities’ practice since the failed coup of convicting people by association rather than on a basis of clear personal guilt.
Montenegro is spending big to bring the high-profile EXIT music festival to its shores after its politically-connected exile from Serbia, although not everyone is convinced of the benefit.
Historical revisionism concerning the fascist Ustasha movement’s role in World War II has become embedded in contemporary Croatian politics and society.
Judges in the trial of ex-President Hashim Thaci and three others have extended the deadline to issue the verdict until July – sparking condemnation in Kosovo, where some called it 'an extension of injustice'.
The siege of Sarajevo, and artists’ role in it, lives on through Milomir Kovacevic's photographs. To coincide with a new exhibition of his pictures, Bosnian writer Semezdin Mehmedinovic sets the scene.
While in power, Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party used Hungary’s state resources to build a formidable influence network abroad. Whether that network can survive a change of government is now hotly debated.
The death of Kosovo Albanian liberation strategist Fehmi Agani in May 1999 remains shrouded in mystery. His son and a fellow passenger on the train that almost took him to freedom recall the moments before he was led away by Serbian forces.
Some municipalities are making use of new powers to veto gambling licences, fearing the negative impact of an expanding industry that preys on poverty and dreams of instant wealth.
Jelena Perovic, former head of the Anti-Corruption Agency in the EU candidate country, is sentenced to two years and two months in jail in a first-instance ruling.
Ilie Bolojan's pro-European cabinet has been toppled by a successful no-confidence motion, raising concerns about renewed political and economic instability.
Jovica Stanisic was one of the few Hague Tribunal defendants to apologise for his crimes. War criminals who do voice remorse are often disbelieved by their victims and labelled traitors by their own ethnic group.
BIRN-supported exhibition showcases how Bosnia's capital kept culture alive amid the hardships of the 1992-95 siege.
Call centres specialising in online financial fraud have become a growth industry in Albania, attracting young people to criminal activity with the lure of quick money.
Institutions have long been mandated to consider the different needs of women and men when spending public money, but positive examples remain exceptions not the norm.
A secret spy exchange between Russia, Moldova, Poland, Romania and the US shows Moldova has finally joined the ‘select club’ of European intelligence services.
Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.
While Tisza’s landslide election victory offers an opportunity to rejuvenate press freedom after 16 years of backsliding, unwinding Fidesz’s media capture model will be complex, but essential for achieving wider democratic reform.
In theory, judges in North Macedonia can be dismissed for refusing to declare their assets. In practice, they face small fines – or nothing at all.
A young Albanian woman’s return from a camp for Islamic State supporters has delighted her family – but officials warn that the repatriation process for others won’t be easy, particularly if they hold radical beliefs.
In a world that increasingly finds itself turned upside down, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tries to make sense of the past, present and future.
Despite living in a hyperconnected world, Gen Z is stuck in a loneliness crisis. What is to blame - and what can be done about it?
Defence lawyers filed an urgent motion to the UN court for the release of the 84-year-old Bosnian Serb war crimes and genocide convict after he reportedly suffered a stroke last month.
Elsewhere, Slovakia under increasing EU scrutiny as tensions grow over reforms; first prisoner exchange on Polish territory since WWII frees Belarusian-Polish dissident; talks underway to choose next chief of General Staff of Czech Armed Forces.
For the first time in years, the governing Socialist Party is being savaged from within as Elisa Spiropali – a once close ally of Prime Minister Edi Rama – attacks his ‘heartless machine’.
With yet another snap election coming up on June 7, experts fear that the almost constant political turmoil in Europe’s youngest country is undermining its credibility abroad.
Controversial US rapper also known as Ye – who has been banned from the UK and Australia – will hold a concert in Tirana on July 11, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Facebook.
As Bulgaria's new parliament opens, the pro-EU opposition has split into two separate groups, weakening its ability to counter election winner Progressive Bulgaria's dominance.
The latest World Press Freedom Index highlights Serbia and Turkey as countries where journalists are particularly at risk of physical attack, or subject to political pressure.
The conviction of the once-powerful former tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc is proof that Moldova’s judicial reform is providing results. The next test is making sure the system doesn’t drift back.
Attempts by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to probe EU agricultural subsidies fraud in Greece are triggering a political backlash from officials – and accusations of institutionalised clientelism from critics.
The first instalment in a new BIRN series examines how World War II memorials in Bosnia and Herzegovina were built to foster unity between Yugoslavia's peoples, but have become instruments of manipulation, historical revisionism and political propaganda.
With support collapsing, its leadership in limbo and no clear path back to power, Hungary’s once-invincible former ruling party confronts the possibility of long-term decline and irrelevance. There remain the faithful, however.
The former head of the Serbian State Security Service, Jovica Stanisic, sentenced to 15 years in prison for wartime violations in Bosnia and Croatia, has apologised for his crimes and requested early release.
If the European Commission decides to follow the parliament’s recommendation, it could start a process that both Hungary and Poland went through when they were governed by anti-EU, populist governments.
Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe bestows its top 'award' on Croatian judge Ivan Markovic for issuing over 20 lawsuits against journalists – the third 'winner' from Croatia in five years.
Following parliament’s failure to elect a new president, Kosovo is heading towards snap polls in which former President Vjosa Osmani is clearly planning a role.
New agreement on exchange of classified data in the defence sector appears designed to accelerate arms shipments from Israel to Serbia.
Slobodan Radenkovic was jailed for two years for taking part in attacks on NATO peacekeeping troops in the north of Kosovo in May 2023 that left over 90 soldiers injured.
Political change in Sofia promises a stable government after years of turmoil – but it isn’t likely to translate into a substantial shift in policy towards neighbouring North Macedonia and its blocked EU aspirations.
Academics say state universities across the country are coming under increasing pressure from the authorities, who see them as a hotbeds of organised political dissent that could challenge the Serbian Progressive Party’s long rule at the next elections.
Instead of smuggling drugs, the cartels send ‘cooks’ to produce them in laboratories hidden in villages in the Polish regions of Pomerania or Podlaskie.
