Bislim Zyrapi, former Chief of KLA General Staff, after testifying for three weeks at the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three co-accused, admitted several prosecution points but also confirmed some of the defence’s stances.
Entrenched divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have hampered EU and U.S. efforts to build functional institutions and integrate the country into Western clubs. Dysfunctionality in turn provides fertile ground for meddling by Russia, which appears to have won the battle for the hearts and minds of Bosnian Serbs.
Northern and Eastern European countries will not send any ministers to Hungary during the country’s EU presidency in protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s solo trip to Moscow.
Orbán has been widely criticised by EU member states and institution leaders for his recent ‘peace missions’ to Moscow, Beijing and Florida, and his case was on the agenda at the Conference of Presidents on Thursday (11 July).
Driven by economic difficulties, European public opinions have taken increasingly skeptical positions on migrants and asylum seekers in recent years, an extremely visible phenomenon in “front line” countries such as Greece and Cyprus
Nationalists in Serbia and Montenegro have manipulated memories of the Jasenovac concentration camp and the genocidal crimes committed by the World War II fascist Ustasa movement to stimulate hatred for Croats in general – but that’s no excuse for downplaying atrocities.
Polish filmmaker Konrad Szolajski’s new documentary looks at nearly a decade of Russian sabotage, espionage and disinformation across Central and Eastern Europe, with an eery actuality.
“Putting the whole project together took a lot of time – it was very difficult,” Konrad Szolajski explains as we meet a few hours before the international premiere of his new documentary, Putin’s Playground, in Prague on June 10.
Being pro-EU does not win politicians many votes in the Western Balkans and the Caucasus. There, Viktor Orbán’s version of an illiberal Europe appears to be the union’s top-rated political export.
It is election season in Europe.
A Bosnian Serb former martial arts fighter has been posting videos and pictures online, documenting his new life as a volunteer soldier with a Russian unit fighting in Ukraine. BIRN was able to track his posts, following his journey to the frontline.
North Macedonia is a country with a past — or no past, depending on your perspective. The landlocked Balkan country’s architecture, history, flag and even its name have all become an ideological battleground, contested by nationalists and Europhiles, disputed by Macedonians and Albanians, besieged by Greece and Bulgaria. Conservatives seek to preserve or construct a Macedonian national identity, while hostile neighbouring states demand the country relinquish its historic claims as a quid pro quo for EU accession.