Balkan Legal News - 8 December 2023

The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 1 December 2023 to 7 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.

Kosovo - 7 December 2023

Valon Syla welcomed the verdict of Pristina Basic Court, which handed two-year prison sentences to three persons accused of attacking him, and who he described as 'Islamic fanatics'; see here.

Romania - 7 December 2023

When a mayor of a small Romanian town casually mentioned in an interview that she had voted in favour of a referendum that sought to ultimately ban same-sex marriage, it unleashed a maelstrom that now threatens to become a key issue in elections next year; see here.

Croatia - 6 December 2023

Keir Starmer’s experience of seeking to prove a genocide at The Hague has helped his response to the Gaza conflict, say fellow lawyers on the case, but some Labour MPs think otherwise. “He [Starmer] was in charge of the [legal] presentation of Vukovar, the city that suffered the most during the war; see here.

Albania - 6 December 2023

Opposition MPs took the refugee agreement between Albania and Italy to the country's Constitutional Court on Wednesday, calling it a 'flagrant violation' of the constitution and international law; see here.

Hungary/Poland - 6 December 2023

Hungary is another EU country along with Poland that is being sued in civil court by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer over its refusal to take delivery of and pay for COVID-19 vaccines that it had agreed to, the Hungarian government confirmed on Wednesday; see here.

North Macedonia - 6 December 2023

North Macedonia said it expects the rapid extradition of the main suspect for the gruesome murder of two people, including a 14-year-old girl, following his arrest in Turkey; see here.

Bosnia - 6 December 2023

The trial of Bosnian Serb leader Milord Dodik has opened at a court in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, where the contentious leader is facing charges of ignoring rulings from an international envoy that oversees the country’s peace accords; see here.

Bosnia - 5 December 2023

A man in Bosnia killed his wife and streamed the murder live on Instagram. In neighboring Serbia, 27 women were killed in gender-based attacks this year, despite efforts to raise awareness and reverse the trend. Activists in Kosovo say violence against women there is a “national emergency”; see here.

Bosnia - 4 December 2023

Seven former Bosnian Serb Army officers and soldiers were charged with the capture and killing of 65 Bosniaks in the Sekovici and Vlasenica areas in July 1995 as the victims were fleeing Srebrenica; see here.

Kosovo - 4 December 2023

Court imposes tougher rules for visits to Kosovo ex-President Hashim Thaci and his co-accused at The Hague, citing the risk of witness-tampering and interference with proceedings; see here.