Balkan Legal News
- Jul 1, 2022
- 2 min read
The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 27 June to 30 June 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.
Bosnia and Hercegovina – 27 June 2022
The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals has rejected a request for early release and a pardon from Milan Lukic, the wartime leader of a Bosnian Serb paramilitary group who is currently serving a life sentence in Estonia. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 27 June 2022
The Kosovo prosecution said that the police have arrested a man identified only by the initials M.D. on suspicion of committing war crimes in the Peja/Pec region of Kosovo in May 1999. The prosecution described him as an ethnic Montenegrin who is a citizen of Kosovo, but the Serbian media outlets have named the man as Milorad Djokovic, and have described him as a Serb. The Serbian government’s office for Kosovo condemned the arrest, claiming that it was an example of the intimidation of Serbs in Kosovo. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Hercegovina – 28 June 2022
Milorad Dodik said he will not respect a ruling by the country's Constitutional Court against the Republika Srpska parliament’s declaration that the Serb-dominated entity should quit state-level judicial, defence, security and tax institutions. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Hercegovina – 28 June 2022
Bosnia and Herzegovina has improved legislation to combat human trafficking but needs to do more to protect the victims, many of whom are vulnerable children, says a new expert report for the Council of Europe. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 29 June 2022
Days after the European Union gave Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak two more years in his post as EU envoy on the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and Western Balkans issues, Lajcak has set spring 2024 as the deadline for when the two foes have to finally normalize their tense relations. The full article can be found here.
Bulgaria – 29 June 2022
All services of the Russian embassy in Bulgaria have been halted after outgoing PM Kiril Petkov’s decision to expel 70 Russian diplomats for espionage. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Hercegovina – 30 June 2022
At the request of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, a UK military counter-disinformation expert and a civilian strategic defence adviser will be deployed to Bosnia to support and train its armed forces. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Hercegovina – 30 June 2022
The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals has rejected a request for early release from Bosnian Serb general Radivoje Miletic, who is serving an 18-year sentence for committing crimes against humanity in Srebrenica in 1995. The full article can be found here.
