The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 22 August to 26 August 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.
Albania – 22 August 2022
The Albanian authorities are investigating two Russians and one Ukrainian for allegedly gathering secret military information and the possession of non-lethal weapons after they were detained while entering an arms factory. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 23 August 2022
The District Court in Doboj has confirmed an indictment charging Ante Pavic, a former military policeman with the Croatian Defence Council, the Bosnian Croat wartime force, with war crimes against civilians. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 23 August 2022
Bozidar Delic, the former commander of the Yugoslav Army’s 549th Motorised Brigade, which was involved in some of the most notorious attacks of the Kosovo war, died in Moscow, where he was having medical treatment. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 24 august 2022
Ramiz Hodzic pleaded not guilty at the Cantonal Court in the city of Bihac on Wednesday to committing a war crime against the civilian population in the Velika Kladusa area in 1994. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 24 August 2022
The Bosnian state court has rejected a prosecution appeal, confirming the verdict acquitting Miodrag Josipovic, Branimir Tesic, Dragomir Vasic, Danilo Zoljic and Radomir Pantic of participation in the partial extermination of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 24 August 2022
EU and US envoys Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar landed in Pristina in an attempt to bridge differences between Kosovo and Serbia ahead of September 1, when the Kosovo authorities intend to bring in regulations on vehicle licence plates and ID documents for border crossing which Serbs strongly oppose. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 24 August 2022
Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, filed a criminal complaint against his Bosniak colleague Sefik Dzaferovic for participating in a summit about restoring Ukraine’s control over Russian-annexed Crimea. The full article can be found here.
Bulgaria – 25 August 2022
Five people were arrested on human trafficking charges following a collision between a police car and a bus full of Syrian migrants in the Bulgarian town of Burgas that left two officers dead. The full article can be found here.