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.
After criticising a proposed new defamation law, the EU and US have also condemned a proposed new Bosnian Serb law allowing the entity to designate NGOs as ‘foreign agents’, calling it ‘unacceptable’.
The EU and US have criticised plans by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia’s mainly Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity, to push a new Russian-style law which would allow the entity to mark civil society and non-governmental organisations as “foreign agents”.
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.
President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the first 125 million euros will soon arrive in Serbia as part of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. But that this is not an unconditional donation from the European Union, but funds for which our country will have to meet certain standards.
Was Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years a success? It certainly appeared that Xi’s visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, which had both a trade and a political agenda, were successful for the Chinese leader. Can we say the same for France, the EU or Europe? Well, there is not a straight or single answer. And this by itself unveils some of Europe’s grave contradictions on important geopolitical, security and trade issues.
Ukraine is short of artillery and other hardware – and the Balkan countries can help fill important gaps.
The Western Balkans face a multi-faceted threat from Russia, either through its allies in the region or through hybrid threats coming from Russia itself.
Croatian attempts to calm the Croat-Bosniak war
The representatives of Croatia tried to diplomatically stop the war with recent allies. Thus, on the night of April 24 to 25 in Zagreb, Izetbegović and Boban, in the presence of Tuđman and Owen, signed a joint statement that the body that will be in charge of implementing the Vance-Owen plan “as far as possible considering on the character of the provisions and current circumstances”.
Born: 1981;
Place of Birth: Serbia;
Gender: Male;
Nationality: Serbian, Austrian;
General Info:
Mirsad Omerovic, also known as Abu Tejma is a former leader of a Bosnian terrorist cell in Vienna, Austria.
He is currently imprisoned for 20 years on charges related to radicalising and recruiting individuals to join the Islamic State.
The opening of EU accession talks marks an important milestone for Bosnia, where ethnic tensions run high. But progress on the EU track is no remedy for the chronic crisis besetting the country’s politics.
Bosnia finally has some good news. On March 21, the European Council gave the country the green light to start membership talks with the EU.