Weekly update: 28 July - 3 August 2023

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 28 July to 3 August 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.

Romania - 03 August 2023

Robert Rundo, the co-founder of a white supremacist group who was on the run-in south-east Europe, was extradited from Romania to the US to face charges related to clashes at political rallies in 2017. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 03 August 2023

Montenegrin watchdog organisation MANS criticised the government for striking non-transparent deals behind closed doors after it made an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Shiddi group to build a seaside tourist complex. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 01 August 2023

Serbian police conducted a large-scale operation against people-smugglers near the country’s border with the EU, seizing weapons and arresting several dozen suspects. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 01 August 2023

A lawyer for former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter Dritan Goxhaj, who was arrested in Albania, told BIRN he has been charged with revealing names of potential protected witnesses in a war crimes case in The Hague. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 01 August 2023

Police called on the State Attorney’s Office in Osijek to charge a man with raping a young woman while he was a 15-year-old member of a Serbian paramilitary unit in 1992. The full article can be found here.

Moldova – 01 August 2023

Amid the ongoing rift between Chisinau and Moscow, the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service terminated its partnership agreement with its Russian counterparts, saying they are carrying out “subversive activities against Moldova”. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 28 July 2023

The Bosnian state court will ask Interpol to issue an international alert for the arrest of Milenko Zivanovic, former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Drina Corps, after he failed to appear in court to answer Srebrenica charges. The full article can be found here.

Albania – 28 July 2023

An operation led by the Police and the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime has netted senior law enforcement officials among those accused of murder, drug trading and other high crimes. The full article can be found here.