The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 4 July 2024 - 11 July 2024. 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.
Bosnia - 11 July 2024
Thousands attended a ceremony at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre marking the 29th anniversary of the genocide of Bosniaks as 14 more victims were laid to rest, while commemorations were also held across the former Yugoslavia; see here.
Bosnia - 11 July 2024
Ex-soldiers Bosko Uncanin, Dragan Despot and Marinko Miljevic were convicted of crimes against humanity for their participation in the wartime murders of at least 74 civilians in Velagici near Kljuc in June 1992; see here.
Bosnia - 11 July 2024
A commission set up to recompense relatives of certain Srebrenica genocide victims because Dutch peacekeeping troops failed to protect them has paid out millions of euros in compensation for 611 of the victims’ deaths; see here.
Serbia - 11 July 2024
Anti-war activists held a silent commemoration of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Belgrade, urging the authorities to abandon their policy of denial and establish an annual Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day; see here.
Kosovo - 11 July 2024
As Kosovo's parliament voted for a bill extending the powers of the Independent Media Commission to cover online media in the same way as TV and radio channels, the OSCE Mission and Kosovo Journalists’ Association said it does not reflect important concerns; see here.
Kosovo - 9 July 2024
Kosovo Police told BIRN they are unable to arrest Marko Rosic, who was sentenced to 10 years' prison and a 10,000-euros fine over the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, as his whereabouts are unknown; see here.
Croatia - 9 July 2024
Activists seek law changes strengthening abortion rights and curbing the rights of 'kneelers' – ultra-conservative men who pray in city squares against divorce and abortion - to hold their protests in public; see here.
Romania - 9 July 2024
Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources said it has filed a claim seeking the annulment of a decision by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in March, which dismissed the company’s claims against Romania for compensations for its unsuccessful Rosia Montana gold mining project see here.
Croatia - 8 July 2024
Too often, environmental impact studies in Croatia are treated as merely a ‘pro forma’ exercise in order to obtain the construction permit; see here.
Bosnia - 8 July 2024
Over the past year, the Bosnian state court has not issued any verdicts for the July 1995 Srebrenica genocide and the prosecution has filed only two indictments – figures that disturb victims’ families; see here.
Serbia - 5 July 2024
In a retrial for murdering an elderly couple in Brod na Drini during the war in Bosnia in 1992, Belgrade Higher Court again found Danko Vladicic guilty and sentenced him to nine years in prison; see here.