Weekly update: 16 June - 22 June 2023

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 16 June to 22 June 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.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 22 June 2023

Parliamentarians in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity endorsed legal changes that are intended to allow them to ignore decisions made by Bosnia’s international overseer, the High Representative. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 22 June 2023

Report by Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee called on Montenegrin authorities to investigate cases of police brutality and change 'the current culture of police impunity'. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 21 June 2023

Police arrested a Kosovo Serb suspected of committing war crimes against ethnic Albanians while he was a prison guard during the 1998-99 conflict, causing a protest by locals in the Serb-majority municipality of Gracanica. The full article can be found here.

Romania – 21 June 2023

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has been charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 20 June 2023

The defence lawyer for former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci claimed that the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague is imposing protective measures to protect witnesses’ identities even when it is not necessary. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 20 June 2023

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told Bosnian lawmakers that there will be no risk from storing disused radioactive equipment from a nuclear power plant at a specially-adapted facility near the Bosnian border. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 16 June 2023

Defence ministers of NATO states met on Thursday in Brussels with representatives of 25 companies from the defence industry, including Croatia’s Djuro Djakovic, with whom they discussed strengthening military aid to Ukraine. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 16 June 2023

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s office in Kraljevo, central Serbia, ordered an investigation into three detained Kosovo policemen suspected of the illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials. The full article can be found here.