The Bosnian Serb bloc in the state government has dismissed calls to quit both the government and other state institutions over suggestions that Bosnia may recognise the independence of Kosovo.
After Malcolm Simmons quit as president of the judges of the EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, saying it had become too politicised, EULEX has said the judge himself was the subject of serious investigations.
At the trial of Zoran Vukotic, a Serb ex-policeman charged with war crimes in 1999, two Kosovo Albanian witnesses testified about the defendant’s alleged brutality against civilian prisoners.
By: Haki Abazi
Both countries, and both people, stand to lose out in the long term from a ‘dialogue’ that has never advanced beyond leaders shaking hands and photops in Brussels.
In the international school of diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations are approached from a “win-win” theory.
However, despite the terrible wars and conflicts that the Balkans have experienced, the EU has not learned any such lessons about or from the region.
A policy paper concludes that although most directives and concepts from the EU gender equality 'aquis' have been transposed into Kosovo legislation, the laws are not being put into practice.
A report by the Kosovo Women’s Network, assessing the extent to which Kosovo's laws are aligned with the EU "acquis" on gender equality, says domestic gender-related legislation is not being implemented.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-laws-on-gender-equality-not-implemented-in-practice-11-08-2017
Balkan youth have been an easy target for extremists seeking to radicalise them and convince them to fight abroad, but now parents, activists and official Islamic organisations are striking back.
BIRN Tirana, Belgrade, Sarajevo
“I knew little about faith,” a 31-year-old Muslim from Sarajevo told BIRN, remembering his introduction to radical Islam.
“In high school, we did everything but study - concerts, pot and alcohol,” he recalled.
As Kosovo’s government mulls withdrawing from CEFTA, citing its unequal treatment, economists warn that a halt to regional free trade will result in price rises.
Kosovo’s recent announcement that it may withdraw from the Central European Free Trade Agreement, CEFTA, due to what it sees as its unequal treatment, has triggered a lively argument about this plan and its possible consequences.
While Kosovo mulls sending the disputed border agreement with Montenegro to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Montenegro shows no sign of agreeing to such a solution.
Russian-linked Serbian monarchists and a British far-right organisation have been seeking to equip mystery groups in north Kosovo in order to resist what they believe will be an attack on Serbs by Kosovo Albanians.
High above the flashpoint town of Mitrovica, to the north of the Ibar river that divides Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, stands the modern Sveti Dimitrije church.
By: Chema Arraiza
Catalonia’s recent declaration of independence has prompted many to draw comparisons with events in Kosovo – but closer analysis shows the two cases are very different.
The Spanish government has taken direct control of Catalonia in the past few days in order to quell its bid for independence.