Balkan Insight

A safeguard clause placing new the bloc’s members under monitoring for 15 years reflects real fears of Viktor Orban-style disruptors – but it could be a gift to anti-EU nationalists as well as a deterrent to backsliders.

Courts across the country are struggling under a double burden: dilapidated buildings and mountains of case files, while repeated demands for adequate premises and solutions continue to fall on deaf ears.

The strategy draws on lessons from Ukraine, putting cheap drones, AI and rapid military strikes at the heart of NATO's response to any Russian attack.

New regulating preventing minors under 15 from accessing platforms such as Facebook and Instagram will come into force in January subject to a final vote in parliament.

According to Liberties’ analysis, at least 96 per cent of the EU Commission’s recommendations have not been fully implemented, and 54 per cent show no or only limited progress.

Rights groups including BIRN press Turkish authorities to cease sweeping internet restrictions and call on social media companies to resist censorship orders targeting journalists, independent media and civil society groups.

Nedzad Grabus vows progress after winning vote to become new supreme head or Grand Mufti of Bosnia's Islamic Community, a post he will hold for the next seven years.

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

This weekend’s local elections left the Czech political landscape largely unchanged, but delivered some setbacks for the governing coalition.

Questions are being asked of the Greek authorities’ monitoring of private health clinics and a proliferation of spurious ‘wellness’ claims following the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis while undergoing Therapeutic Plasma Exchange.

In voting to significantly curtail the powers and jurisdiction of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, parliament in Pristina has angered the EU and thrown the future of the court into doubt.

The disruption of the opposition student movement’s election campaign trip to Republika Srpska doesn’t mean that everyone in the entity backs Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic.

A string of long-awaited elections, as well as changing international dynamics, are reshaping the region, as our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week highlights.

An elderly woman’s eviction has sparked mass protests in Spain - amid mounting concerns across Europe about access to affordable housing.

Washington no longer sees Kosovo as a strategic obligation but as an asset of diminishing value, to be leveraged in the service of US interests.

Police arrest Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk and four associates from pro-Russian Rybar channel suspected of trying to exert malicious influence on Montenegrin politics.

Controversial reform of local government dissolving smaller municipalities into larger units passes after stormy debate, with protesters demonstrating outside parliament.

Elsewhere, Hungary unveils wealth tax; Czech president faces backlash for going on holiday during elections; and a Soviet statue is removed in Prague, unveiled in Slovakia.

After Kosovo’s political leaders put aside party quarrels to choose a new head of state at the last minute, experts predict a possible end to almost two years of non-stop political crisis.

As patients increasingly arrive at surgeries armed with diagnoses drawn from artificial intelligence chatbots, doctors fear their authority is being undermined - and that people may suffer as a result of AI-generated errors.

Overfull and stinking, the Ramici landfill near the northern Bosnian town of Banja Luka is a disaster waiting to happen, say local residents.

CRTA report warns of persistent 'electoral engineering' attempts by pro-government actors, including unequal media coverage, intimidation, hostility to independent election observers and offers of money for political support.

The Bosnian state court confirmed an indictment charging Father Petar Barbaric with making a speech glorifying Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak, who committed suicide when his verdict was announced at the Hague Tribunal.

While addressing widely-held concerns about pretrial detention measures, a bill to rewrite a big chunk of Albania’s Code of Criminal Procedure has been met with consternation among judges, prosecutors and civil society groups worried it will ‘neuter’ a key

Elections results show the three long-established ethnic parties continue to dominate Bosnia’s political scene; what’s less clear is how and when new governments will be formed.

A last-minute deal between two biggest Kosovo parties saw Justina Shiroka Pula become Kosovo’s President, averting the spectre of yet another election.

Moldova aims to strengthen energy security by constructing a new power line to Romania named ‘Trump Liberty Line’ in recognition of US support for the project.

Opposition party's position crumbles further as mayor of key city joins President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP in major political defection.

MPs dramatically avoid another snap parliamentary election by adopting changes to law on Kosovo Specialist Chambers and electing new President – minutes before deadline expired.

Pro-government media say the resignation of one key figure over a stock market scandal shows the rule of law works impartially in Turkey.

A wave of new housing is transforming Prague’s outskirts, but disputes over developers, schools, municipal oversight have prompted a group of locals to take an unusual step: entering politics to fight for a say in how their community grows.

Eleven men in Serbia speak of their experiences of sexual violence and harassment - and explain their reasons for not reporting it.

New election likely as political parties fail to agree on electing a president and protesters keep up pressure for adoption of law curbing powers of Kosovo Specialist Chambers, following its conviction of wartime guerrilla leaders.

Kremlin-friendly PM condemns attack on two international cargo ships in Bulgarian waters as 'crude violation of law' – but opposition criticises him for not pointing finger at Moscow.

Lawyers for one of 14 people targeted by Pegasus spyware file criminal complaint against Serbian intelligence agency officials, police and the Israeli company behind the surveillance technology after institutions fail to react.

After violent clashes on Monday night, protesters started to reassemble in Pristina to demand legal changes to curb the powers of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court following convictions of guerrilla leaders.

Nearly two years after it was created, Serbia’s student movement is contesting a national election – but experts warn that winning power would only be the start of the challenge.

Phishing and text message scams have risen significantly in Albania, with scammers using trusted names like Albania Post - prompting calls for more institutional expertise and better awareness campaigns.

The dominant ethnic-based parties scored highest in Sunday’s general elections, although a record low turnout hinted at growing apathy towards all parties.

MPs in first reading adopt major changes to law governing the Hague-based war crimes court following conviction of former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders – although enforcement requires second vote.

New rule obliging voters abroad to follow polling hours based on Central European Time means some diaspora Serbians in countries like the US and Australia will have to cast ballots in the middle of the night.

Catch up on the weekend’s most important developments with Balkan Insight’s digest of news from countries across the region.

The number of whistleblower reports has increased since the end of three decades of rule by the Democratic Party of Socialists, but few cases ever reach court.

Amid a major turnout fall, Milorad Dodik’s Serb nationalist party secured its dominant role in Republika Srpska while Croat candidate Darijana Filipovic looks set to become the new member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency.

The fate of Budapest’s House of Terror, a controversial museum which focuses on life under totalitarianism in the 20th century, could spark another round of the ‘culture war’.

Norwegian aid worker Tommy Olsen says his trial in Greece is about discouraging others from ever coming to the aid of refugees and migrants reaching Europe’s shores.

Plavsic, who died this week, was the only high-ranking woman political leader prosecuted for mass atrocities by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.

Women get a raw deal at elections in Bosnia, a spy chief’s arrest raises security questions in Albania and protesters challenge war crimes verdicts in Kosovo - plus much more in our selection of this week’s Balkan Insight Premium stories.

The capital is thronged with people wearing replica shirts in tribute to national football team captain Edin Dzeko, who plays his final international match for Bosnia and Herzegovina against Sweden on Friday.

Police from 19 countries attended the Carpathian Blue Shield 2026 exercise in Romania to share knowledge on how to control violent demonstrations and subdue unrest.