Balkan Legal News

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 20 March to 23 March 2023.

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.

Montenegro – 23 March 2023

Montenegro’s Special Prosecution arrested the police assistant director Dejan Knezevic on the orders of the Special State Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly creating a criminal organisation. The full article can be found here.

Balkan – 21 March 2023

Perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence in most south-east European countries often receive lenient sentences, while the burden of proof mainly falls on the victims, says a new report by the US State Department. The full article can be found here.

Moldova – 21 March 2023

President Maia Sandu announced that a new court will be set up to try major corruption cases - a move to restore public confidence in the judiciary and boost Moldova’s credentials for EU membership. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 21 March 2023

International mediators are urging Kosovo and Serbia’s leaders to implement the commitments they agreed at the weekend, but officials in Pristina and Belgrade appear to be interpreting the normalisation plan differently. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 20 March 2023

A Croatian court convicted former Yugoslav intelligence chief Aleksandar Vasiljevic in absentia of establishing prison camps where detainees were tortured and killed during the Croatian war in 1991. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 20 March 2023

Prosecution witnesses’ testimony in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and his three co-defendants could take over six years, judges in The Hague warned. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 17 March 2023

Ruling majority blocs on Friday appealed to the Constitutional Court against President Milo Djukanovic's decision to call on early elections for June 11. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 16 March 2023

Bosnia’s state court confirmed the indictment of five former guards at the Trnopolje, Keraterm and Omarska wartime detention camps on charges that include torture, murder and allowing the rape of inmates. The full article I am be found here.