Balkan Legal News

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 2 March to 10 March 2022.

Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, 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.

Serbia – 2 March 2022

Russia’s traditional Balkan ally Serbia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution, condemning its attack on Ukraine, despite longstanding ties between Moscow and Belgrade. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 4 March 2022

Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry declared an unnamed Russian diplomat persona non grata, noting that the decision had been made on the national security agency’s suggestion. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 7 March 2022

Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj is running for a seat in parliament again at general elections next month, despite having a war crime conviction that should have legally barred him from sitting as an MP. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 7 March 2022

Russia added Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania to a list of enemy states, accusing them of actions against the Kremlin, along with the United States, EU member countries, Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and New Zealand. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 8 March 2022

A Bosnian Serb Army veterans’ association has installed a new plaque in the Vraca neighbourhood of East Sarajevo bearing the name of former military chief Ratko Mladic, who is serving a life sentence for genocide and other wartime crimes, despite legislation prohibiting the commemoration of war criminals. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 8 March 2022

Vaughan Smith, the founder of London’s Frontline Club, a venue that supports freelance journalists around the world, said in an interview how he filmed Serbian police besieging the home compound of Kosovo Liberation Army co-founder Adem Jashari in March 1998. This attack is seen as the beginning of the Kosovo conflict. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 9 March 2022

Vladimir Putin has consistently used Kosovo’s Western-backed unilateral declaration of independence as legal justification for his military incursions into other former Soviet republics to support Russian-backed rebels, writes judge Dean B. Pineles. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 10 March 2022

The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zeljko Komsic and members Sefik Dzaferovic and Milorad Dodik met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, in Sarajevo this week. The full article can be found here.