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The Balkans Today
The Balkans Today: 29th February - 6th March 2016
Our team brings you live updates of the most important events and developments in the Balkans as they happen.
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by Athens Greece NEW via twitter 2/29/2016 8:18:05 AM -
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Top stories from the Balkans today:- The dispute between Belgrade and the UN war crimes court over Serbian Radical Party leader Seselj will only win the nationalist politician more support in Serbia’s upcoming elections, experts argue.
- Thousands are to be evicted from Kosovo villages surrounding a new power plant as the World Bank investigates its own actions in the ‘flawed’ resettlement programme.
- A field check of voters is due to start in Macedonia next week to tackle fears of election-rigging ahead of the snap polls - although the scope of the operation remains unclear.
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61% citizens of #Montenegro disagree with a claim that #elections are free and fair! Only 28% agrees, 11% don't know.by CDT_Montenegro via twitter 2/29/2016 9:23:41 AM -
Albania's Deputy Foreign Minister, Selim Belortaja, met with his Iranian counterpart in Iran's capital, Tehran, to discuss the need for exchanging high-level visits between the two countries with the aim of starting an economic relationship.Belortaja is the first Albanian official to visit Iran since the international community lifted sanctions against this once isolated country last month. -
A crowd of migrants has burst through a barbed-wire fence on the Macedonia-Greece border
Macedonian police used tear gas and shock grenades to try to disperse the aggravated crowd. More updates to come.
near the town of Gevgelija, using a steel pole as a battering ram. -
The situation at the Macedonia-Greece border near the town of Gevgelija is calm at the moment after Macedonian police used tear gas and shock grenades to try to disperse an aggravated crowd of migrants who tried to burst through a barbed-wire fence earlier today.
Up to 7,000 people are stranded on the Greek side of the border, Greek media report.
Photo by: Anadolu Agency
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Three Serbian opposition parties - the Democratic Party, DS, Liberal Democratic Party, LDP, and former president Tadic's Social Democratic Party, SDP - have agreed to run jointly on one list in Serbia's forthcoming parliamentary elections, LDP official Kenan Hajdarevic announced on his Twitter account. -
Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga has signed an international agreement with the Netherlands that will allow a new court to start trials of former Kosovo Liberation Army members for alleged crimes committed from 1999-2000.
The new court, which is officially called the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, will be based in The Hague but will be part of the Kosovo justice system.
The court will be housed in the former Europol building | Photo: Europol
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Top stories from the Balkans today:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina is marking 24 years of independence but the annual holiday is opposed by the country’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, where many wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia.
- Prime Minister and Socialist leader Edi Rama is pushing to weaken the ‘one member, one vote’ principle he once championed as a way to improve his party’s internal democracy.
- Three Serbian opposition parties halted coalition talks, saying they would face Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Progressive Party in the upcoming parliamentary elections separately.
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Albania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sacked the Albanian consul in Milan on Tuesday morning over allegations the consulate accepted 1000-euro bribes from Albanians living in Italy so they could get married without going through the approved legal procedures in the municipalities they resided in.The sacking comes after Albanian TV programme 'Stop' aired its undercover investigation into the matter.
Albania Consulate in Milan | Photo: mfa.gov -
Following a clash between refugees and police at the Macedonia-Greece border on Monday, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, announced he will visit Macedonia on Wednesday as part of the EU's effort to tackle the refugee crisis.
Thousands of migrants remain stranded on the Greek side of the border after a group tried to break through the fence yesterday, but were met with tear gas by police. The situation at the border is currently tense, but calm.
Photo by: AP/BETA -
Jasha Alfandari, president of the Jewish community of Montenegro and EJC affiliate, told a local newspaper that he felt safe as a Jew in the country and that there were “no ethnic problems”.
"In the neighboring country, up until two years ago, the Jewish cemetery was being constantly destroyed. In Montenegro, you have Kotor in which local authorities have been preserving and maintaining the Jewish cemetery in the old town for decades. That is how we are being treated in Montenegro,” Alfandari said in an interview with the Pobjeda daily. -
Female MPs from Albania's opposition Democratic Party staged a protest in front of Prime Minister Edi Rama's office on Tuesday afternoon, accusing him of using verbal assaults against women in parliament and in general.The protest came after a heated parliamentary session on February 26 when women among the Democratic Party members accused Rama of swearing at one of the party's female MPs, who had thrown a wet paper ball at him.
Democratic Party women protesting in front of Prime Minister office | Photo: Twitter -
Parliamentary elections in Serbia will be held on April 24, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday."In next two days, the government will send the motion to the President to call for early parliamentary elections... President will decide on the date, but the most probable date is April 24", Vucic told Serbian public broadcaster RTS.
Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic | Photo: Beta
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Speaking in a meeting with Iran's accredited ambassador to Podgorica, Deputy Head of Montenegro Chamber of Commerce focused on his country's interest to cooperate with Iran to develop economic-trade cooperation.
Ivan Saviliovic and Majid Fahim Poor in a meeting on Tuesday negotiated on the prospect of cooperation and the ways to expand cooperation in post-sanction era. -
Macedonia's Special Prosecution has postponed the hearing for the controversial "coup" case, in which opposition leader Zoran Zaev is charged with “blackmail and violence against top state officials,” until May 3.
Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva accused the courts of not handing over the evidence for the case, thus obstructing its progress.
Macedonian special prosecutor, Katica Janeva | Photo by: BIRN
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The Albanian government has continued to make changes to its lineup, adding three deputy ministers to the Integration, Education and Environment ministries.The Deputy Minister of Justice was also shifted, and now holds the same rank in the Ministry of Defence.These latest changes come after Prime Minister Edi Rama decided to remove finance minister Shkelqim Cani from his government last month and replace him with the economy minister, Arben Ahmetaj.
Albanian government | Photo: kryeministria.al -
Between 2013 and 2015 Bulgaria has plunged into political instability, characterised by a lack of consensus reflecting deep societal divisions, German NGO Bertelsmann Stiftung said in its 2016 Transformation Index.As part of this international report comparing countries' political and economic developments, the German think tank highlights what it sees as numerous problems in the Bulgarian democratic system, such as “the control of major media by a limited number of oligarchs," the lack of progress in improving the judiciary since the country joined the EU, and the failure of the state to “prevent the future abuse of public resources.”
Photo: Bertelsmann Stiftung -
Albania will rebuild its Scientific Centre of Hydrocarbons Research (Gas and Oil Institute), which has been out of use for more than 15 years.The project will be fully funded by Switzerland in connection with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project, which it has already given Albania over six million euros for.The pipeline will stretch across 215km of onshore and 37km of offshore Albanian territory.
TAP project map | Graphic: Wikipedia -
Bosnian institutions have implemented a third of the measures indicated in the government's economic reform agenda, which all aspects of need to be fully realised for the country's EU application to be credible, Bosnian PM Denis Zvizdic said on Wednesday afternoon.He added that the "other measures will be hard and painful, but they will practically have to be approved this year."
Bosnian PM Denis Zvizdic | Photo: SDA -
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Top stories from the Balkans today:
- Tourism companies are blaming a fall in the number of visitors to Sarajevo at the beginning of 2016 on media reports of terrorist threats to Bosnia.
- A truck with Bulgarian plates was caught trying to leave Kosovo full of documents taken from the Palace of Justice, in an alleged attempt to remove evidence related to an investigation into the construction of the building.
- Romania plans to increase its media presence in neighbouring Moldova in order to promote EU values and the Romanian language - and counteract Russian influence.
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There are "a few weeks left" to find a solution to Mostar's political deadlock if Bosnian authorities want to organise elections in this southern city for October, said Halid Genjac, member of the Interesource Group, which is working on Bosnia's electoral law reform.
While some progress has been made in solving Mostar's political standoff, it has not been enough to find a solution to this "important and complicated issue," Genjac added.
Mostar is the only city in Bosnia where no local elections were held in 2012, after the Constitutional Court declared its electoral statute unconstitutional. -
The National Assembly of Republika Srpska is voting today on a law that would retroactively impose the conversion of loans in Swiss francs into Bosnian marks at the exchange rate at the time the loans were taken.
Thousands of Bosnian citizens borrowed money in Swiss francs, mostly from the Austrian Hypo Bank, but as the value of this currency rose over the past few years, many have been struggling to repay their debt in local currency.
An earlier proposal for converting these loans was presented to parliament at the end of 2015, but was rejected. Bosnia's two entities are now trying to find a joint solution to the issue. -
#Lukashevich: Convinced that dragging Montenegro into NATO does not lead to consolidation and prosperity of the countryby Russian Mission OSCE via twitter 3/3/2016 11:43:07 AM -
The National Assembly of Republika Srpska has rejected a proposed law that would allow for loans in Swiss francs to be retroactively converted into Bosnian marks.
The Bosnian entity's president, Milorad Dodik, told national media today that an alternative agreement has been reached between the Austrian Bank Hypo, which most of the loans were taken through, and authorities of Republika Srpska for an alternative settlement on coverting the loans into local currency.
Milorad Dodik | Photo: BETA -
Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic has sent a proposal to the President of Serbia, Tomislav Nikolic, to dissolve the National Assembly and schedule early parliamentary elections.
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councilofeurope Albania: Poor detention conditions and prison healthcare revealed in new anti-torture report: ... bit.ly/21JN6F9by Council of Europe via twitter 3/3/2016 4:02:37 PM -
Ethnic Albanians are rallying in the ethnically mixed municipality of Butel in Skopje on Thursday afternoon to protest the recent start of construction of a giant Orthodox cross that is financed by a Macedonian NGO.
There are fears that the protest may spark further tension between Macedonians and Albanians, who are at odds over the construction of the cross.
Some Albanians, who are predominantly Muslim, see the planned cross as a religious and ethnic provocation by Macedonians. -
Serbian government on Thursday sacked Aleksandar Obradovic, the head of Electric Power Industry of Serbia, EPS, over the purchase of a pair of luxury vehicles in a move widely seen as a begging of campaign for parliamentary elections.
Obradovic, a member of the ruling Progressive Party, was sacked over the purchase of two Audi's for the company despite the belt-tightening measures introduced by the government.
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Top stories from the Balkans today:
- In a move to challenge parliament's election of a new President of Kosovo on February 26, an opposition party is considering taking its complaints to the Constitutional Court.
- Albania plans to boost the under-performing tourism sector by offering to lease land for development at a symbolic price of only one euro.
- A new civic party, 'Civic Strength', aims to run in the October local elections in the city that gave birth to a nationwide protest movement in Bosnia.
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The head of Albania's nationalist Red and Black Alliance party, Kreshnik Spahiu, was arrested on Friday morning by Albanian police while he, and activists from his party, staged a protest in Tirana against the governance of the municipality's mayor, Erion Veliaj.During the protest, ralliers tried to nail wooden planks across the municipality building doors.Representatives of Albania's main opposition party, the Democratic Party, condemned the arrest as politically motivated.
Kreshnik Spahiu inside the Police car | Photo: Facebook
Red and Black Alliance party protesting at the Municipality doors | Photo: Facebook -
Although it has no official information that Montenegro will become a part of the migration route, its Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has been conducting all the activities so as to be prepared for the potential influx of refugees, Minister Zorica Kovacevic said after the government's meeting in Podgorica.
Montenegro is ready to accept 10,000 migrants in transit, and it may provide daily accommodation for 2,000 migrants, according to the minister. -
The United States supports the creation of conditions for free and fair elections in Macedonia on June 5, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Yee said during his two-day visit to Skopje, which ends today.
Yee added that Washington expects all who are responsible for the political crisis to be held accountable for their actions, and gave strong support to the recently formed Special Prosecution, tasked to investigate high-level corruption.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Yee | Photo by: MIA
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Bosnia "will lose 200 million euro this year of European funds because we are not able to seize the opportunities that are offered to us," Mirko Sarovic, Bosnian Minister of Commerce, said at a conference on Friday in the city of Bihac in north-west Bosnia.
"Bosnia has lost hundreds of millions of euros so far because of the government's lack of preparation and for the absence of political will," Sarovic said, adding the "EU is planning to invest 11 billion euros in the Balkans until 2030, and that Bosnia needs to find its place in this funds."
Mirko Sarovic | Photo: youtube -
Fear of ethnic tension subsided in Macedonia on Friday night, after junior ruling DUI party activists who have previously occupied a location in Skopje, protesting against the construction of a tall cross in the capital, packed up their tents.
Shortly after, the government at emergency session suspended the municipal decision to build the cross which the DUI saw as a provocation against the predominantly Muslim Albanian community.
Photo by: lokalno.mk
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