Balkans

History is full of manipulations, half-truths and mythical claims. The most popular of them are, for example, the claim that United Kingdom alone fought against Nazi Germany in 1940 (in reality it had a huge colonial empire), the opinion that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute while sources say otherwise, Vikings wore horns on their helmets (archaeological evidence does not confirm this). Manipulations are claims that the policy of the Republic of Croatia towards the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 was “wrong”, “aggressive”, “ambivalent”, “hypocritical”. As expected, such claims are accepted by Bosnian nationalists and various circles opposed to Croatia.

Tensions are rising in Kosovo’s restive Serb-majority north, as Pristina enforces its writ against the backdrop of continuing disputes with Belgrade. The parties and outside supporters should first work on defusing the short-term risk of violence and then look for ways to foster lasting stability.

What’s new? A clash between police and Serb paramilitaries has given Kosovo impetus to fully integrate its rebellious northern region, pushing out the remaining Serbian institutions on which the population relies. An EU-brokered deal to normalise relations between Pristina and Belgrade, while granting Kosovo Serbs a degree of self-government, is stalled.

Islamska zajednica u Bosni i Hercegovini danas je ugroženom stanovništvu u Pojasu Gazu podijelila 8.676 iftarskih obroka.

Pomoć se na terenu distribuira u saradnji sa Humanitarnom organizacijom Human Appeal, koja je i prethodnih ramazanskih dana na više lokacija u Rafahu i središnjem pojasu Gaze podijelila nekoliko hiljada toplih obroka i iftara.

Na svečanoj ceremoniji povodom Dana nezavisnosti Islamske Republike Pakistan predsjednik Pakistana Nj.E. Asif Ali Zardari uručio je reisul-ulemi Islamske zajednice u Bosni i Hercegovini Husein-ef. Kavazoviću državni orden Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam (Zvijezda izvrsnosti u liderstvu), jedno od najviših civilnih priznanja.

Bosnia’s top court has found Jasmin Keserovic guilty of having travelled to Syria in January 2013, fought for ISIS and taken part in terrorist activities under the name Abu Muhamed Al Bosni.

On Thursday, The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina also found Keserovic guilty on the second count of having published an incitement to murder on the internet in 2016.

The Foreign Affairs Service carried out the procedure of forced removal of a French citizen for whom NCB INTERPOL issued a warrant on suspicion of criminal offenses related to terrorism, weapons and high technology, and who was qualified by the competent authority for performing security checks as a person who poses a threat to the public order and national security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The situation in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and has a substantial ethnic Serb minority, has been complex due to Serbia’s continued claim that Kosovo is its territory in open rebellion. The deadly gunfight between Kosovo police and Serb paramilitaries in April 2023, and the discovery of weapons and equipment allegedly belonging to the Serb militants, led to accusations of support from the Serbian government. Despite these tensions, Serbia’s government hailed the attack as a form of legitimate resistance, further escalating the situation.

The conduct of Serbia’s latest elections points to the country’s democratic decline. The EU cannot stay neutral in the face of President Vucic’s provocations and authoritarian tendencies.

There is a certain back-to-the-future quality to Serbia. One would think that the country has long moved on from the lows of the 1990s. However, the feeling among at least some Serbs is that the clock has been turned back to the era of former president and strongman Slobodan Milošević.

Rise to the top
The foundation of the leftist movement in Greece is the SYNASPISMOS coalition, which was established in 1991. SYNASPISMOS was also one of the founders of the Party of the European Left (PEL) in Rome in 2004. In Greece, the successor of SYNASPISMOS is the radical-left coalition named SYRIZA, which is actually the syllabic abbreviation of the full name of the coalition in Greek. SYRIZA was established in 2004 by several leftist and extreme-left parties. The first president of SYRIZA was Alekos Alavanos (1950). He is a moderate left-wing politician and was the party leader until 2008. These years were filled with numerous tensions between the coalition partners and marked by modest results at parliamentary and local elections. Many in Greece associated these two parties with anarchist groups, which frequently caused unrests in Greece.