Balkan Legal News - 29 December 2023

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 21 December 2023 to 28 December 2023. 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.

Bosnia - 28 December 2023

The 11 suspects were charged with committing crimes against humanity in 1992 for their involvement in the unlawful detention and inhumane treatment of around 700 Bosniak men and boys, some of whom were killed; see here.

Romania - 28 December 2023

Romania and Bulgaria have struck an agreement with Austria to partially join Europe's borderless Schengen travel zone by March 2024, Bucharest and Sofia have confirmed; see here.

Bosnia - 28 December 2023

Comment - Bosnia and Herzegovina has extended its deadline for resolving the most complex war crimes cases for a second time – but experts warn that two more years might not be enough to deal with the huge backlog; see here.

Montenegro - 28 December 2023

Comment - The past year brought minimal progress in Montenegro’s handling of its wartime past, experts say, with no new war crimes indictments or trials; see here.

Serbia - 27 December 2023

Serbia’s Higher Prosecution said it is charging protesters against the December 17 election results with seeking to violently change the constitutional order – a charge that the opposition denies; see here.

Serbia - 27 December 2023

Serbian war crimes prosecutors didn’t provide enough evidence to convict wartime Bosnian Serb reservist policeman Nebojsa Mirovic, accused of beating and torturing dozens of Bosniak civilians in Teslic in 1992, the Humanitarian Law Centre argued; see here.

Kosovo - 23 December 2023

On a decisive day for Kosovo’s judiciary, the Constitutional Court has reinforced the tenets of justice and democracy. On December 23, 2023, the court delivered a landmark ruling on the proposed amendments for the judicial vetting process, a move initiated by the Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca; see here.

Albania - 22 December 2023 Albania’s parliament voted Thursday to lift the legal immunity of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is being probed for possible corruption; see here.

Croatia - 21 December 2023

Law student Mihaela Berak warned her friends repeatedly that a police officer she dated briefly was "possessive, deranged and manipulative" before she was shot dead in Croatia. Killed with the officer's service weapon in his apartment, the 20-year-old's death has triggered a firestorm in the Balkan nation just as it prepares to adopt legislation on femicide; see here.