Balkan Legal News – 01 April 2026

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 25 March to 31 March 2026. Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.

Guernica 37 Balkan Legal News

Croatia – 31 March 2026

Croatian President Zoran Milanović on Monday cancelled a Western Balkans summit he was to host in May over statements made by his Serbian counterpart which he said threaten regional stability. The Brdo-Brijuni annual summits bring together the presidents of Croatia, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The summit was launched by European Union members Croatia and Slovenia in 2013 aiming to improve cooperation between the countries and accelerate their EU integration. But Milanović said in a statement that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić could not visit Croatia and cancelled the meeting. The full article is available here.

Montenegro – 31 March 2026

Montenegro’s Special State Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment charging former Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic and prosecutor Sasa Cadjenovic with abuse of office and unlawful influence, it announced on Tuesday. The charges relate to an alleged joint decision by the two prosecutors to reach an agreement with the legal representative of Joseph Assad, a US citizen and former CIA officer, to testify favourably for the prosecution in the so-called ‘coup plot’ case. The coup plot case concerned an alleged Russian-backed scheme to overthrow Montenegro’s pro-Western government around elections in 2016. Assad was under suspicion of involvement in the case, but never charged, and rejected the allegations as false. The full article is available here.

Serbia – 31 March 2026

Officers from the Anti-Corruption Department of the Criminal Police Directorate raided the University of Belgrade Rectorate offices on Tuesday as part of the probe of a student’s death, seizing servers and other equipment used to store surveillance camera recordings. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade it asked the Anti-Corruption Department to collect evidence after a 25-year-old woman student died after falling through a fifth-floor window at the Faculty of Philosophy on the night of March 26. The raid sparked suspicions, as it happened amid continuing political tensions following more than a year of student-led anti-government protests, as well as repeated declarations by the government that it will remove university faculties’ legal autonomy, and claims by officials that senior university staff were to blame for the student’s death. The full article is available here.

Bulgaria – 31 March 2026

Arguments erupted between parties running in Bulgaria’s 19 April snap elections after interim Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov and Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a ten-year cooperation agreement in Kyiv on Monday.  According to the deal, Bulgaria will continue its military assistance to Ukraine, including training and joint production of drones and ammunition, under the EU’s Security Action for Europe programme. The agreement also covers cooperation in intelligence and security, countering hybrid threats and disinformation, strengthening security in the Black Sea region, cooperation on sanctions, humanitarian support, as well as cultural initiatives for the Bulgarian minority in Ukraine.  The full article is available here.

Turkey – 31 March 2026

Mustafa Bozbey, Mayor of Turkey’s fourth-largest city, Bursa, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, and 54 others have been detained by Turkish police for allegedly “forming a crime group”, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. They are alleged to have been “involved in the crimes of Establishing an Organisation for the Purpose of Committing Crimes, Being a Member of an Organisation Established for the Purpose of Committing Crimes, and Laundering Assets Derived from Crime”, according to Bursa’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. Other detainees include Bozbey’s wife, daughter, other family members, municipal officials, businesspeople and others. The full article is available here.

Bulgaria – 30 March 2026

Ahead of the April 19 snap elections, police in Bulgaria have acted on 576 reports of voter fraud, the Interior Ministry stated on Monday. Of these 576 cases, 181 are in pre-trial proceedings started and 95 people have been arrested. Deputy Interior Minister Ivan Anchev said: “514 of the reports relate to vote-buying in favour of specific political parties or alliances, 15 concern illegal campaigning, three involve corporate voting, and one concerns [threats of] destruction of property”, without disclosing which parties have been involved. Local media have been preoccupied with cases of alleged bribery, often in smaller settlements and sometimes involving people who have been in positions of power. The full article is available here.

Montenegro – 20 March 2026

Montenegro’s Pension and Disability Insurance Fund announced on Friday that it has terminated its contract with the Vilina Vlas spa hotel near Visegrad in Bosnia’s Serb-led Republika Srpska entity after rights groups criticised its inclusion in a subsidised holiday and rehabilitation programme for pensioners. The move comes after the Association for Social Research and Communication, UDIK, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Centre for Civic Education, CGO, from Montenegro on 18 March urged the fund to cut ties to the spa because of its association with crimes committed in the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. The full article is available here.

Kosovo – 30 March 2026

Kosovo’s government on Monday approved sending members of the Kosovo Security Forces, FSK, to Gaza as part of an International Stabilisation Force, an armed force envisaged under Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Palestinian territory, which will provide security, demilitarise Hamas fighters and guard deliveries of aid and reconstruction materials. Kosovo initially committed to the idea when it signed up to Trump’s Board of Peace initiative, which will oversee the plan’s implementation. The full article is available here.

Serbia – 30 March 2026

Various opposition party leaders in Serbia have condemned Sunday night’s police raid on the premises of the opposition People’s Movement of Serbia, NPS, over alleged violations of voting rights at local polls during the day. Local elections were held in 10 towns in Serbia on Sunday in a tense atmosphere amid long-running anti-government protests in the country. In most of the municipalities, election monitors reported electoral irregularities, physical violence and other incidents at polling stations. The full article is available here.

Montenegro – 26 March 2026

The European Union Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, said on Thursday in Podgorica that Montenegro and all future member states will face “democratic safeguards” aimed at preventing backsliding on the bloc’s values. “This is not specifically about Montenegro – it will apply to all future members. But as the most advanced candidate, Montenegro would be the first to join under these democratic safeguards,” Kos told a joint press conference with Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic. She said the proposed “insurance mechanism” would allow the bloc to react if a new member fails to uphold agreed standards, while stressing that countries meeting all conditions would enjoy full rights. The full article is available here.

Romania – 25 March 2026

Romania’s parliament on Wednesday by an overwhelming majority adopted a new law aimed at preventing and combating femicide and the violence that precedes it, significantly strengthening protections for women. The bill, approved with 284 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions, for the first time introduces a legal definition of femicide as the intentional killing of a woman, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a family member or a third party. Femicide will now be punished in line with aggravated murder, carrying sentences of 15 to 25 years in prison, or life imprisonment. The full article is available here.