As Serbia's ruling party readies to stage a major rally on Saturday in an attempt to overshadow student-led anti-government protests, public sector employees are reportedly being pressured to attend.
Governments, lenders and businesses gathered in Poland to unlock fresh funding for Ukraine’s reconstruction, sign investment deals and lay the groundwork for longer-term private investment.
Like the weather, the political temperature across the region is rising, as our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week highlights.
A notorious waste dump outside Mostar has been on fire for days – as locals pay the price for years of inaction by the authorities in the politically-troubled city.
With increased incursions into EU countries' airspace amid Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the EU hopes to implement an anti-drone shield.
The current protests reflect frustration with a clientelist system that rewards party loyalty over merit and uses the public administration to distribute privileges and resources to supporters.
After snap elections failed to transform the parliamentary landscape, the question is whether the rival parties can now reach an understanding to elect a president and so end Kosovo’s political deadlock.
Paid from German coffers, Jörg Heeskens has been advising Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic since almost the moment he took power. A mountain of documents obtained by BIRN/Der Spiegel show just how closely Heeskens has worked with Vucic on a deeply unpopular lithium mining project, exposing what critics say is German complicity in the president’s subversion of democracy.
The Financial Action Task Force’s decision to put Bosnia back on its ‘watch list’ will deter international investors and place fresh obstacles on Bosnia’s European path, experts warn.
Since winning power in April, the ruling Progressive Bulgaria party has proved more regressive than progressive, its first moves more in step with Russia and the Orthodox Church than with Brussels.
In confronting an unprecedented wave of anti-government protests, Albania’s prime minister is trying to discredit those taking part and deflect attention from their legitimate grievances. The strategy may yet backfire.
Fourteen NGOs call on state to ask the United Nations to set up a fact-finding mission into whether a 'sonic weapon' was used in an attempt to disperse a protest in Belgrade last year.
Prime Minister-designate Adrian Vestea failed to secure MPs’ confidence in a vote, extending the country’s political deadlock into sixth week.
Former New Democracy MEP Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou convicted of violating official secrecy and personal data by emailing expatriates in the run-up to the 2024 European elections.
Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.
In charging six Kosovo Serbs over roadblocks erected in 2022, prosecutors claim to have exposed the coordination, ‘coercion and intimidation’ behind protests and violence in northern Kosovo portrayed by Serbia as ‘spontaneous’, grassroots expressions of fear and resistance.
Cameras have caught reckless drivers in North Macedonia’s capital Skopje and reduced the number of accidents, but they have not solved deeper road safety problems.
Pressure is mounting on Bosnia and Herzegovina to align its visa policy with EU standards by ending visa-free travel for citizens of Turkey, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia, as part of broader EU integration requirements.
Romanian authorities have expanded their criminal investigation into social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after months of delays amid allegations of foreign interference in the case.
An editorial overview indicates that political disputes and economic tensions continue across the Balkans region, with limited signs of negotiated resolution among stakeholders.
A new handbook released on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict aims to raise awareness about children born from sexual violence during the Yugoslav Wars and advocate for their legal rights and recognition.
The annual Pride march in Sarajevo has again sparked outbursts of hate speech online, with organisers urging the authorities to prosecute offenders as online threats can spark violence against LGBTQ+ people.
A new report warns that weak oversight of lawyers, notaries, accountants and auditors helps facilitate money-laundering across the Western Balkans through real estate fraud and complex financial arrangements.
The NATO peacekeeping mission will reduce troop numbers as a result of improved security conditions in Kosovo’s north - after sending more soldiers in 2023 amid repeated unrest in Serb-majority areas.
The legislation, which includes the setting up of deportation centres located outside the EU, is designed to increase the low removal number of failed asylum seekers from the current 28 per cent.
The Court of Appeals in Belgrade confirmed the verdict clearing Milenko Zivanovic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army's Drina Corps, of war crimes against civilians in 1992 and 1995 in the Srebrenica area.
North Macedonia’s Dojran Lake, a key bird sanctuary, may become part of Natura 2000, the European Union’s network of protected natural areas. If it can hold on that long.
Following a controversial court ruling that replaced the leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party, a power struggle over who runs the party has slowed the opposition’s recent momentum against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Albania’s Special Prosecution has issued 20 arrest warrants and seized over 100 million euros in assets as it maps out alleged drug money flowing into major construction projects across Albania, including a resort promoted by relatives of Donald Trump.
As President Nicusor Dan's second prime ministerial nominee in 40 days takes steps toward forming a government, Romania's political crisis reveals how democratic tools can be weaponised to make governance itself impossible.
Bulgaria’s president condemned the burning of two Bulgarian diplomatic vehicles in Skopje, calling the incident an “attack” on her country and demanding that the authorities in North Macedonia fully clarify the case.
Peter Magyar’s Tisza party campaigned on a promise to take Hungary into the eurozone, but delivering on that promise would entail blood, sweat and tears – and likely an accompanying loss of popularity.
Three elections in 16 months have ended up with the same outcome and the same deadlock. But new elections are not the solution – political compromise is.
Under the EU’s new Pact on Asylum and Migration, Croatia is considering repurposing a once secret Yugoslav-era airbase as a detention and processing centre, to the alarm of rights groups and locals.
Montenegro closed two additional chapters in its European Union accession negotiations as officials reiterated their goal of completing talks by the end of the year and joining the bloc in 2028.
Kosovo Albanian Hysri Selimi, a former Islamic State member, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Pristina Basic Court for spying for Serbian intelligence.
Five Serbs have been placed in 30-day pre-trial detention by the Pristina Basic Court on war crimes charges for alleged involvement in the January 1999 massacre in Recak/Racak, which left 45 dead and sparked the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
To speed up deportations of migrants whose asylum claims have failed, the EU is set to authorise detention centres beyond its borders. But will they help to resolve the issue?
Tens of thousands of people joined marches for LGBTQ+ rights in the capitals of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria at the weekend – but right-wing traditionalists also held counter-rallies in Bucharest and Sofia.
Balkan Insight has published a weekend news digest covering developments across the Balkans region, but the specific content of those developments is not detailed in this headline.
New report concludes that young people in the Western Balkan need enhanced practical skills to detect fake news on the internet and social media, but also improvements in online platforms' standards and transparency to make false information easier to recognise.
Vetevendosje hails another election victory - but its reduced vote points to likely need to cooperate with other parties to form government.
The human rights lawyer has spent her career documenting Russian war crimes. Now she’s trying to ensure they are punished – whether Russia wins or loses on the battlefield.
Kosovo faces internal political complications while Serbia considers shifting its international alignment toward Eastern powers, according to Balkan Investigative Reporting Network reporting.
European Union officials and observers are debating whether the bloc's shift toward geopolitical priorities over merit-based assessment could undermine institutional integrity, with concerns that expedited membership for Ukraine and Albania may compromise established accession criteria.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to an EU–Western Balkans Summit despite security threats and Montenegro's ban on 87 Serbian citizens entering the country, citing the importance of Serbia's representation at the summit.
Romania's PM-designate Eugen Tomac has been given ten days to form a government and present it to parliament for approval, a process that may face challenges.
Kosovo is heading toward its third election in 16 months as political deadlock persists, with acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti facing accusations of using public money to influence voters.
A member of the Trump family is leading a luxury development project in Albania's Narta Lagoon, a protected environmental area, amid reports of associated business controversies.
Authorities prevented 87 Serbian nationals from entering the country as part of heightened security measures ahead of an EU-Western Balkans Summit.