Balkans

Cocaine Comrades: The Balkan Ties of a Fallen Colombian Drug Trafficker

From Marcos and Soldado to Tito and Chiquito, the drug trafficking ties between Colombia and the Balkans run deep.

President Ivan Duque called it “the most severe blow” to Colombian drug trafficking in this century, comparable only to the arrest of drug lord Pablo Escobar three decades ago.

The excitement was understandable. Dairo Antonio Usuga, better known in Colombia as ‘Otoniel’, was the country’s most wanted drug trafficker, a former guerrilla turned leader of El Clan del Golfo, the biggest criminal gang in Colombia.

Serbia Strengthening ‘Parallel Structures’, Kosovo Deputy PM Says

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi tells BIRN that Serbia is still boosting Belgrade-run structures in Kosovo – and the EU-led dialogue won’t make progress until they are dissolved.

As the European Union-facilitated dialogue on normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo languishes in a stalemate, Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, says the conditions are not ripe for another high-level meeting between Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic.

With Ruling Party Ties, Serbian Right-Wing ‘Security’ Groups Flourish

BIRN has identified a handful of self-proclaimed ‘expert’ security organisations in Serbia that promote the police, military and right-wing tropes while enjoying ties to the country’s ruling party.

In October, a notice was published in the obituaries section of the Serbian newspaper Politika that read, ‘Last greetings to my friend and comrade-in-arms, Stevo Djokic.’ It was signed ‘Aleksandar Vucic.’

The Eagle’s Nest: Migrants, Refugees Tread New Balkan Route

Migrants and refugees trying to reach Western Europe are increasingly using a new route via Kosovo, aided by smugglers and local middlemen.

The last time refugees passed through the small town of Kukes in northeast Albania was 22 years ago, when hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from neighbouring Kosovo fled a brutal counter-insurgency war waged by Serbia in what was then the country’s southern province.

A Neglected Crisis in Bosnia Threatens to Boil Over

Bosnia-Herzegovina could be on the brink of a political collapse that triggers a new conflagration in the Balkans. There is a growing consensus among experts that this is the country’s most dangerous moment since the 1995 Dayton Accords, which ended a war that cost 100,000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people. Analysts also say stability in the Balkans has been eroded recently by the disengagement of the European Union and United States.

“The prospects for further division and conflict are very real,” the international community’s chief representative in Bosnia, Christian Schmidt, wrote in a report to the United Nations that was leaked earlier this month.

Bulgaria accuses Turkey of election interference

Turkey has rejected accusations that it is helping Bulgarian politicians representing the country’s Turkish minority.

The Turkish government has denied allegations that it interfered in neighboring Bulgaria’s election.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Bulgaria’s ambassador to Turkey, Hristov Tcholakov, and told him that Turkey rejects all accusations that it interfered in the Nov. 14 vote. The move followed Bulgaria summoning Turkey’s ambassador over the alleged interference, the official Anadolu Agency reported.

North Macedonia’s Opposition Gamble Plays Into Zaev’s Hand

A badly thought-out bid to topple Zoran Zaev’s administration has left the embattled PM stronger than he was before – though the benefits for him may be short-lived.

Amember of parliament gone missing, deputies with COVID in full protective suits stuck for hours in glass cubicles, no quorum for a plenary session to resume, numerous press conferences by the opposition – threats, appeals and frustration.

Polish Nationalists Burn German Flags in State-Sanctioned March

Poland’s Independence Day march goes ahead despite a court ban on what has become an annual event for far-right sympathisers.

Thousands of Polish nationalists marched through the streets of Warsaw on November 11, in an annual Independence Day march that has become something of a far-right fest over the last few years and only went ahead this year with the help of a veterans’ institution under the control of Poland’s right-wing government.

Migrants on Polish Border Face Dire Consequences as Belarus and EU Harden Stances

With the EU slapping new sanctions on Minsk and claims the Belarusians are trying to force the migrants they are herding over the Polish border to provoke violent incidents, the plight of those stuck on the border promises to get worse before it gets better.

It’s almost midnight in a forest near the village of Narewka, located about 10 kilometres away from Poland’s eastern border with Belarus, and a family of Iraqi Kurds are squatting, holding their breath, as footsteps approach.