Balkan Legal News – 2 July 2025

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 25 June to 1 July 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

Balkan – 30 June 2025

Freedom of Information laws in the six Western Balkan countries may look robust, but public institutions all too often find ways to obstruct transparency, a new BIRN report has found. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 30 June 2025

In the first ever report published by Balkan Insight, BIRN revealed that ten Serb policemen accused of carrying one of the worst massacres in the Kosovo war were about to face justice. For BIRN's 20th anniversary, we are republishing the original report - plus an update on what happened next. The full article can be found here.

Hungary – 30 June 2025

The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge to Viktor Orban’s 15-year rule. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 29 June 2025

Over 70 people were arrested after protesters clashed with police in the wake of a student-led demonstration for snap elections that brought tens of thousands onto the streets of Belgrade. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 27 June 2025

Outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti called a meeting of political party leaders after the Constitutional Court ordered MPs to end their long-running deadlock and inaugurate a new parliament within 30 days. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 27 June 2025

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court has rejected an appeal from Mirza Kapic against the verdict convicting him of planning to attack the Bosna mosque in Zenica in 2023 and upheld his four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. The full article can be found here.

Bulgaria – 25 June 2025

Former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is stepping away from his We Continue the Change party amid a brewing corruption scandal. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 25 June 2025

A teenager, when he served under Osijek warlord Branimir Glavas, Krunoslav Fehir exposed Glavas’s crimes in 2005. Twenty years later, he is in custody in Serbia, accused of those same crimes. Croatia has a moral obligation to get him back. The full article can be found here.