The following media round-up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 16 May 2024 to 23 May 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 - 23 May 2024
The United Nations General Assembly has voted to establish an annual day of remembrance for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide despite furious opposition from Bosnian Serbs and Serbia; see here.
Bosnia - 23 May 2024
The UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on The International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica with a recorded vote of 84 in favour to 19 against, with 68 abstentions; see here.
Balkans - 23 May 2024
As the EU Commission industry chief urges European defence firms to get into ‘war economy mode’, V4 arms manufacturers are building capacities and partnerships – even if their governments have an ambiguous stance over the war in Ukraine; see here.
Kosovo - 23 May 2024
There is a real risk of war as Serbia is forging closer bonds with Russia and China, and the Republic of Kosovo wants to join NATO as soon as possible, its Prime Minister told the London Defence Conference today; see here.
Bosnia - 23 May 2024
The leader of Bosnia’s Serb-controlled territory reiterated a threat to secede from the Balkan country on Wednesday, a day ahead of UN vote on whether to establish an annual memorial day for the 1995 Bosnian genocide; see here.
Kosovo - 23 May 2024
Kosovo’s parliament has approved a bill on leasing some of its prison space to Denmark, to help the Scandinavian country cope with its overcrowded prison system; see here.
Romania - 21 May 2024
Tate is now facing three legal cases in two countries, all based around allegations of abusing women. In Romania, where Tate has made his home for several years, he and his younger brother, Tristan, are awaiting trial on human trafficking and organized crime charges, accused of exploiting seven women; see here.
Moldova - 21 May 2024
On May 16, parliament adopted a law empowering the Intelligence and Security Service to determine the case for the withdrawal of Moldovan citizenship from individuals who obtained that citizenship by fraud, who enlisted in the armed forces of another state, or inflicted significant harm to the state; see here.
Bosnia - 21 May 2024
The UN war crimes court rejected a request from former Bosnian Serb Army chief Ratko Mladic to grant him provisional release on humanitarian grounds or allow him to continue to serve his life sentence in Serbia; see here.
Bosnia - 21 May 2024
Comment - Bosnian Serb authorities and other actors have persisted in their genocide denial; we need urgent action to counter it; see here.
Serbia - 20 May 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent stop in Serbia as part of his first European visit in five years was a potent reminder of the shifting geopolitical allegiances in the Western Balkans and the historical undercurrents that continue to shape this tumultuous region; see here.
North Macedonia - 17 May 2024
North Macedonia's decades-long name dispute with Greece has flared up again, further jeopardising its path to EU membership; see here.