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

A young Albanian woman’s return from a camp for Islamic State supporters has delighted her family – but officials warn that the repatriation process for others won’t be easy, particularly if they hold radical beliefs.

Defence lawyers filed an urgent motion to the UN court for the release of the 84-year-old Bosnian Serb war crimes and genocide convict after he reportedly suffered a stroke last month.

With yet another snap election coming up on June 7, experts fear that the almost constant political turmoil in Europe’s youngest country is undermining its credibility abroad.

The latest World Press Freedom Index highlights Serbia and Turkey as countries where journalists are particularly at risk of physical attack, or subject to political pressure.

The first instalment in a new BIRN series examines how World War II memorials in Bosnia and Herzegovina were built to foster unity between Yugoslavia's peoples, but have become instruments of manipulation, historical revisionism and political propaganda.

If the European Commission decides to follow the parliament’s recommendation, it could start a process that both Hungary and Poland went through when they were governed by anti-EU, populist governments.

New agreement on exchange of classified data in the defence sector appears designed to accelerate arms shipments from Israel to Serbia.

Academics say state universities across the country are coming under increasing pressure from the authorities, who see them as a hotbeds of organised political dissent that could challenge the Serbian Progressive Party’s long rule at the next elections.

For more than a decade, Besnik Kelmendi has been under US sanctions for facilitating the alleged drug trafficking operations of his father, Naser, yet in that time he obtained a gun licence in Kosovo with the help of a senior anti-drugs officer.

Some industry insiders say there are signs of a shift from ‘brain drain’ to ‘brain circulation’ when it comes to Kosovo’s information, communication and technology talent, but the lure of better pay and career prospects abroad is still very strong.

Court sentences Jelena Djukanovic, a former OSCE employee in Kosovo, to six years in jail for using her position to supply Serbia's intelligence agency, the BIA, with sensitive information.

With dating and sexual habits changing, the way younger Czechs interact and form relationships has left experts pondering over what it means for the social fabric.

Our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tells a story of political change in key countries in the region, but associated uncertainty about future political directions.

The Serbian government condemned the verdict convicting three Serbs of involvement in a deadly attack in northern Kosovo in 2023, but MPs in Pristina burst into applause when they heard about the judgment.

Will the clear victory for Rumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria in last weekend's elections herald new efforts to tackle corruption, as he has promised - or cause new problems in the country's relationship with the EU?

Kosovo’s Albin Kurti and Albania’s Edi Rama have distinct and divergent approaches to governing, each with its own set of risks and rewards.

The Turkish Interior Ministry says almost a million stray animals - mostly dogs - have been ‘collected’ from the streets in the past year, but the fate of the animals is unknown.

For years, Romania’s political elite has mounted a rearguard action to protect its weakest link – the academic plagiarism that was used on an alarming scale to secure career advancement.

After over six years on the run, Moldovan oligarch and former political leader Vladimir Plahotniuc has been handed a 19-year prison sentence for his role in a massive banking fraud widely.

While Tisza’s landslide election victory offers an opportunity to rejuvenate press freedom after 16 years of backsliding, unwinding Fidesz’s media capture model will be complex, but essential for achieving wider democratic reform.

In a world that increasingly finds itself turned upside down, our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week tries to make sense of the past, present and future.

Elsewhere, Slovakia under increasing EU scrutiny as tensions grow over reforms; first prisoner exchange on Polish territory since WWII frees Belarusian-Polish dissident; talks underway to choose next chief of General Staff of Czech Armed Forces.

Controversial US rapper also known as Ye – who has been banned from the UK and Australia – will hold a concert in Tirana on July 11, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Facebook.

The conviction of the once-powerful former tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc is proof that Moldova’s judicial reform is providing results. The next test is making sure the system doesn’t drift back.

With support collapsing, its leadership in limbo and no clear path back to power, Hungary’s once-invincible ruling party confronts the possibility of long-term decline and irrelevance. There remain the faithful, however.

Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe bestows its top 'award' on Croatian judge Ivan Markovic for issuing over 20 lawsuits against journalists – the third 'winner' from Croatia in five years.

Slobodan Radenkovic was jailed for two years for taking part in attacks on NATO peacekeeping troops in the north of Kosovo in May 2023 that left over 90 soldiers injured.

Instead of smuggling drugs, the cartels send ‘cooks’ to produce them in laboratories hidden in villages in the Polish regions of Pomerania or Podlaskie.

The vote removing Diana Sosoaca’s parliamentary immunity clears the way for her criminal prosecution in Romania for allegedly detaining a journalist and promoting anti-Semitism.

Prosecutors lift the lid on an alleged corruption scam involving the government body tasked with handling Albania’s digital public services. A handful of people made millions.

A new programme to subsidise the care of infants is designed to make it easier for women with children to rejoin the workforce.

In her latest despatch from the US, Jovana Djurovic considers how far Trump has turned things upside down – and how Balkan states are scrambling to appease him.

Council of Europe body advises changes following controversial legal changes that critics say could undermine prosecutors' work in high-profile cases involving Serbian officials.

Kosovo MPs supported a bill to ratify the country’s membership of President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’, with lawmakers saying it helps the Balkan state get closer to the US.

The paths of a street-vendor from Kandahar, an elderly couple from Bulgaria, and a Greek tech worker and a tattooist converge on an Aegean holiday island with a troubled past.

Romania is bracing for a period of political uncertainty after the resignation of one third of its ministers from its coalition government.

Legislation prohibits social media companies from offering services to under-15s, while a new law is also being drafted requiring identification verification for all Turkish social media users.

Greek parliament lifts immunity of 13 MPs accused of involvement in EU agriculture funds scandal following a request by the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

After elections heralded a change of power, controversial senior prosecutor Borislav Sarafov is stepping down, with the new parliament likely to seek an overhaul of the Supreme Justice Council as part of justice reforms.

In theory, judges in North Macedonia can be dismissed for refusing to declare their assets. In practice, they face small fines – or nothing at all.

Despite living in a hyperconnected world, Gen Z is stuck in a loneliness crisis. What is to blame - and what can be done about it?

For the first time in years, the governing Socialist Party is being savaged from within as Elisa Spiropali – a once close ally of Prime Minister Edi Rama – attacks his ‘heartless machine’.

As Bulgaria's new parliament opens, the pro-EU opposition has split into two separate groups, weakening its ability to counter election winner Progressive Bulgaria's dominance.

Attempts by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to probe EU agricultural subsidies fraud in Greece are triggering a political backlash from officials – and accusations of institutionalised clientelism from critics.

The former head of the Serbian State Security Service, Jovica Stanisic, sentenced to 15 years in prison for wartime violations in Bosnia and Croatia, has apologised for his crimes and requested early release.

Following parliament’s failure to elect a new president, Kosovo is heading towards snap polls in which former President Vjosa Osmani is clearly planning a role.

Political change in Sofia promises a stable government after years of turmoil – but it isn’t likely to translate into a substantial shift in policy towards neighbouring North Macedonia and its blocked EU aspirations.

Kosovo MPs have until midnight on Tuesday to elect a new president or head into new snap elections – only four months after the last polls.

Giant data centre and innovation campus, codenamed Pantheon – to be built at Topusko, south of Zagreb – is expected to turn Croatia into a regional hub for digital infrastructure.

Former prime minister warns of democratic decline, criticises the rightward shift of her former party, the HDZ, and reflects on Croatia’s successful path to the EU.

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

Kosovo’s biggest religious communities stand accused of meddling in the work of parliament to block passage of legislative changes that would expose them to new financial scrutiny and provide legal recognition for an array of other faith groups.

Former European integration minister Gordana Djurovic tells BIRN that Montenegro, the frontrunner for EU accession, now has membership within its sights - but cautions that there is plenty of hard work ahead.

Three Serbs were found guilty of terrorism and involvement in a violent attempt to seize northern parts of Kosovo in September 2023, as part of an armed group that was backed by Serbia.

Elsewhere, Magyar claims Hungary tilted Slovak 2023 election Fico’s way by shifting migrants to border; crypto scandal in Poland puts spotlight on president’s veto of law on such assets; protests in Czechia over public media reforms.

A court in Kosovo will issue its verdict on Friday in the trial of three Serb men accused of involvement in a deadly attack on police in 2023. According to the indictment, Serbia is also in the dock.

Kosovo’s rival political leaders are already slipping into election campaign mode, trading blame and barbs for their failure to find a new president for the country.

On his path to rolling back illiberal rule, Hungary’s newly elected prime minister has found an ally in a veteran of European politics - Poland’s Donald Tusk. The question now is how far that playbook can travel – and where its limits lie.

Photographer Petrut Calinescu went on a journey to explore how contemporary Romanians interpret the mythology to the ancient Dacian people - from re-enactment events to tourist attractions and right-wing ‘sovereigntist’ movements.