Balkan Legal News – 12 November 2025

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 05 November to 12 November 2025.

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

Bosnia & Hercegovina – 12 November 2025

Bosnia and Hercegovina’s state prosecutors are continuing to probe the training camps in Bosnia’s Serb-led Republika Srpska, where Russian instructors were training Moldovan citizens to destabilise the ex-Soviet country, and have called on Chișinău (Moldova) to provide more information. Several individuals are already on trial in the Moldovan capital over the alleged Russian-backed destabilisation campaign aimed at subverting the country’s pro-EU course. The full article is available here.

Turkey – 11 November 2025

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akin Gurlek announced the indictment on Tuesday of the jailed Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu – and sought his conviction and sentence to 2,352 years in prison. The indictment, named “Imamoglu Organised Crime Group for Profit”, charges the jailed opposition mayor with “leading a vast corruption network that cost the state billions of lira, bribery, establishing an organisation for committing crime, forgery, rigging public bids and disinformation”. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 11 November 2025

Priština’s Basic Court sentenced Saćir Lutvija, a former member of Serbian police forces, to ten years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998–99 war in Kosovo. According to the indictment, Serbian police and military forces staged a campaign of arrests of ethnic Albanian civilians, and 11 of them were taken to Prizren police station in southern Kosovo, where Lutvija was among the inspectors who questioned them. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia & Hercegovina – 11 November 2025

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Tuesday rejected the request of the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladić for temporary release to visit the grave of a close relative and attend their memorial service. Mladić, who is serving life sentence for his role in the 1995 genocide in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina and other crimes committed during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, filed the request on 5 November, after the relative passed away. Mladić asked to be released for seven days, during which time he would be under constant police supervision. The full article can be found here.

Bulgaria – 11 November 2025

A local court in Bucharest on Tuesday held the first hearing in the case against Călin Georgescu, who is accused of endorsing figures and ideas linked to Romania’s inter-war fascist movement, a crime under laws targeting extremism. The court is expected to decide soon whether the case will move forward to a full trial. Prosecutors say that between June 2020 and May 2025, he repeatedly endorsed fascist ideas in interviews, online posts and public appearances. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia & Hercegovina – 10 November 2025

Bruno Stojić was released after serving two-thirds of his 20-year sentence for wartime crimes, as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals ruled that he had “reached a sufficient level of rehabilitation to warrant conditional early release”, according to a decision made public on Monday. The tribunal noted that Stojić, convicted for his role in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at creating a greater Croatian state that included part of Bosnia and Hercegovina, had expressed remorse for his actions during sessions with psychiatrists. The full article can be found here.

Albania – 7 November 2025

Debate continued on Friday after Albania’s parliament approved a new law on gender equality, a measure widely welcomed by rights groups and the European Union as a positive step forward, though criticised by some conservatives and traditionalists. Adopted by MPs on Thursday, the legislation strengthens previous provisions on gender equality, introduces additional protections and guarantees for women and girls, and explicitly bans all forms of discrimination based on gender, gender identity, or sexual characteristics. The full article can be found here.

Bulgaria – 5 November 2025

Bulgaria’s parliament voted on Wednesday to establish a commission to investigate alleged meddling by NGOs and companies affiliated to the liberal American-Hungarian investor and philanthropist George Soros and his son Alexander. The move was initiated by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, a political vehicle for the oligarch and MP Delyan Peevski, by the nationalist parties There’s Such a People and Union, Moral and Honour, as well as by the pro-Kremlin forces Revival and the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Members of the governing party GERB abstained or voted against.  The full article can be found here.