Weekly update: 30 June - 6 July 2023

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 30 June to 6 July 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.

Serbia – 6 July 2023

Serbian President says he is mulling banning arms exports, citing possible 'aggression' against his country, and referring to the heated situation in Kosovo. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 6 July 2023

The Bosnian state court in Sarajevo acquitted Spomenko Novovic and Borislav Pjano of the murders, inhumane treatment, illegal detention, and robbery of Bosniak civilians in the villages of Dragocava, Sube and Potpece near Foca during the war from April to September 1992. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 5 july 2023

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic has been criticised for banning the daily Jutarnji list on Tuesday without any explanation from his press conference. The full article can be found here.

Bulgaria – 5 July 2023

Former Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev – who was ousted in a trade-off between the current government's coalition partners – has started his own party, Justice for Bulgaria. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 5 July 2023

NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said it has no evidence that weapons are being smuggled from Serbia to Serbia Orthodox Churches in Kosovo in ambulances, differing from claims made by a UK MP, Alicia Kearns. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 4 July 2023

Civil society organisations are concerned that the EU's decision to suspend some funding for Kosovo until it complies with Brussels’ prescriptions for defusing tensions in the Serb-majority north could affect NGOs that depend on international grants. The full article can be found here.

Albania – 4 July 2023

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Admir Thanza wasn’t given adequate opportunity to defend himself when he was fired as an Albanian judge for failing a corruption ‘integrity test’ - but that his dismissal was not a rights violation. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 3 July 2023

The former sister-in-law of an alleged Yugoslav Army ex-soldier accused of involvement in the wartime killings of Kosovo Albanians in 1999 testified that he was not on the battlefield but at home with his family at the time. The full article can be found here.