An analysis of judiciary proceedings involving the media shows a record rise in attacks on journalists in Serbia and the use of frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing independent and critical voices, a new report shows.

Five years after the US declared him persona non grata, Donald Trump has given Sali Berisha a ‘waiver’. But how much does it really change for the opposition party Berisha leads?

The NATO peacekeeping mission will reduce troop numbers as a result of improved security conditions in Kosovo’s north - after sending more soldiers in 2023 amid repeated unrest in Serb-majority areas.

North Macedonia’s Dojran Lake, a key bird sanctuary, may become part of Natura 2000, the European Union’s network of protected natural areas. If it can hold on that long.

As President Nicusor Dan's second prime ministerial nominee in 40 days takes steps toward forming a government, Romania's political crisis reveals how democratic tools can be weaponised to make governance itself impossible.

Three elections in 16 months have ended up with the same outcome and the same deadlock. But new elections are not the solution – political compromise is.

Kosovo Albanian Hysri Selimi, a former Islamic State member, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Pristina Basic Court for spying for Serbian intelligence.

Tens of thousands of people joined marches for LGBTQ+ rights in the capitals of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria at the weekend – but right-wing traditionalists also held counter-rallies in Bucharest and Sofia.

Those who have waited more than a quarter of a century to find loved ones still missing from the war in Kosovo take little hope from a new joint commission between Serbia and its former southern province.

Prompted by shocking murder case in May, Justice Minister proposes life sentences and continued detention of some offenders even after they have completed their sentences.

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air has warned changes to an air transport regulation in Serbia may force it to quit Belgrade.

Elsewhere, Slovak president urged to halt controversial ambassador pick for Cyprus; Czech defence minister calls for increase in defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP; and Hungary's government submits omnibus bill designed to unlock frozen EU funds.

For many Bosniak survivors of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (Kurban Bajram) brings back painful memories of executions and burned homes in June 1992.

Repairing Polish-Hungarian relations is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for resolving the broader challenges facing the V4 regional alliance of Central European states.

A Croatian court confirms seven-year jail sentence for wartime general Glavas for war crimes against Serb civilians, following almost 19 years of trials, retrials and appeals that may not be over yet.

The national football team’s participation in the World Cup has the potential to generate shared public emotion in a country best known for intractable divisions.

Prosecution drops claim that former Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic was aided a murderer after a killing – but not the allegation that he failed to report the crime, despite being told it had occurred.

Construction workers from across the Balkans have flooded a small corner of northern Greece to help ready an expanded gold and copper mine for production; local resistance, driven by a fear for the environment, has given way to economic dependence.

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

Cases of non-consensual intimate image sharing in Greece are on the rise, but the perpetrators too often escape punishment amid widespread victim-blaming and social stigma.

The annual Pride march in Sarajevo has again sparked outbursts of hate speech online, with organisers urging the authorities to prosecute offenders as online threats can spark violence against LGBTQ+ people.

Police suspect two recent murders in Barcelona are tied to Balkan crime groups. The shootings highlight the global repercussions of decade-long rivalries involving Serbian and Montenegrin drug clans.

The legislation, which includes the setting up of deportation centres located outside the EU, is designed to increase the low removal number of failed asylum seekers from the current 28 per cent.

Following a controversial court ruling that replaced the leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party, a power struggle over who runs the party has slowed the opposition’s recent momentum against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Bulgaria’s president condemned the burning of two Bulgarian diplomatic vehicles in Skopje, calling the incident an “attack” on her country and demanding that the authorities in North Macedonia fully clarify the case.

Under the EU’s new Pact on Asylum and Migration, Croatia is considering repurposing a once secret Yugoslav-era airbase as a detention and processing centre, to the alarm of rights groups and locals.

Five Serbs have been placed in 30-day pre-trial detention by the Pristina Basic Court on war crimes charges for alleged involvement in the January 1999 massacre in Recak/Racak, which left 45 dead and sparked the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

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

With food inflation running at over 30 per cent, Turkey’s centuries-old relationship with olive oil is starting to sour.

Our selection of Premium stories digs deep into a lively week, as Europe limps towards rebooting the enlargement system, votes in Kosovo are counted and Albanians throw off a reputation for apathy.

State Department says removing Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha's designation, imposed in 2021 over alleged corruption, serves US 'national interest'.

In the ongoing ‘Flamingo Revolution’ rallies against a planned luxury resort in Albania, satirical placards have become a key way to popularise protesters’ demands in the social media era.

'Exodus '99', part of BIRN's Reporting House museum – and housed in a freight wagon – includes testimonies from some of the Kosovo Albanians deported in railway wagons by Serbian forces in 1999.

Protesting Albanians are not against tourist resorts or foreign investments, but they’re tired of being treated as passive subjects of decisions made by higher powers.

New report concludes that young people in the Western Balkan need enhanced practical skills to detect fake news on the internet and social media, but also improvements in online platforms' standards and transparency to make false information easier to recognise.

Angered by the treatment of a protester at the site of a planned resort linked to Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Albanians are taking to the streets, fuelled by long-standing grievances over the way their country has been run.

A new Franco-German proposal is heralding a possible new approach to the European bloc’s enlargement process – and leaving the door open for Kosovo. But it was Serbia’s president who grabbed the headlines at the latest EU-Balkans summit.

Albin Kurti’s election gamble paid off – but he must take note of the signal the country sent in a lower turnout and a drop in his party’s votes, experts told BIRN.

The human rights lawyer has spent her career documenting Russian war crimes. Now she’s trying to ensure they are punished – whether Russia wins or loses on the battlefield.

Incumbent Prime Minister tipped to win Sunday's snap polls although his Vetevendosje party saw its level of support shrink compared to last December's elections.

A new report warns that weak oversight of lawyers, notaries, accountants and auditors helps facilitate money-laundering across the Western Balkans through real estate fraud and complex financial arrangements.

Krunoslav Fehir was still in his teens when he witnessed the torture and murder of Serb civilians by a Croatian unit he was recruited into by his father in 1991. His decision to testify in 2005 would mark the start of a long and torturous road to the conviction of Osijek warlord Branimir Glavas, and to Fehir’s own vindication.

The Court of Appeals in Belgrade confirmed the verdict clearing Milenko Zivanovic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army's Drina Corps, of war crimes against civilians in 1992 and 1995 in the Srebrenica area.

Albania’s Special Prosecution has issued 20 arrest warrants and seized over 100 million euros in assets as it maps out alleged drug money flowing into major construction projects across Albania, including a resort promoted by relatives of Donald Trump.

Peter Magyar’s Tisza party campaigned on a promise to take Hungary into the eurozone, but delivering on that promise would entail blood, sweat and tears – and likely an accompanying loss of popularity.

Montenegro closed two additional chapters in its European Union accession negotiations as officials reiterated their goal of completing talks by the end of the year and joining the bloc in 2028.

To speed up deportations of migrants whose asylum claims have failed, the EU is set to authorise detention centres beyond its borders. But will they help to resolve the issue?

The draft law seeks to bring back journalistic independence, editorial freedom, unhindered access to reliable information and a space for open public discourse.

North Korean hackers are stealing identities to land freelance work with Western companies, and some of the victims are in the Balkans.

New ruling party confirms support for 'March of the Family' celebrating 'traditional' values on Saturday – coinciding with Sofia Pride parade.

Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Romania are racing to implement new EU asylum rules, as right-wingers demand crackdowns and campaigners warn of threats to human rights.

Drone incursions have heightened fears that the war in Ukraine is spilling into Romania, exposing vulnerabilities in the NATO member’s air and maritime defences.

Right organisations call on President Zoran Milanovic to strip Branimir Glavas of his general's rank and other decorations following conviction over the wartime killings of Serb civilians.

A political row has erupted in Bulgaria over who allowed an upscale coastal development to be built on protected land by a controversial businessman from Ukraine.

Arrest of several members of elite Belgrade police unit suspected of trying to cover up restaurant shooting last year adds to woes of Serbian capital's police force – whose chief was arrested in May.

The government is stonewalling over revealing the funding details for ‘spectacular’ independence anniversary events planned for this summer in a typically ‘brazen’ way, claims watchdog head German Filmov.

A new State Department report, walking away from international oversight, risks placing Bosnia’s democratic order in the hands of whoever is strongest.

Vetevendosje hails another election victory - but its reduced vote points to likely need to cooperate with other parties to form government.

Dario Ristic escaped charges of fighting illegally abroad by obtaining a Russian passport; some now urge Bosnia to change its laws.

Hundreds of citizens, activists and diplomats marched through Kosovo’s capital on Friday celebrating the city’s 10th Pride Parade under the slogan ‘Equality or Revolt’.