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.

While Kosovo is tying itself up in political knots, Serbia is eying a possible pivot to the (far) East. BIRN’s selection of Premium stories tackles these issues and more.

Report by activist group No Name Kitchen accuses European countries of systemically denying healthcare to migrants to deter them from reaching the EU.

As EU moves to prioritise geopolitical needs over old merit-based approaches, the concern is that rushed membership for Ukraine and Albania could come at a cost.

PM-Designate Eugen Tomac has only ten days to try to form a government and present it to parliament for approval, which may prove difficult.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will compete in the World Cup this month. Can they take inspiration from the legacy of legendary manager Ivica Osim? Lida Hujic meets Osim’s illustrious son Amar to find out – and asks team captain Edin Dzeko too.

Authorities block 87 Serbian nationals from entering country ahead of EU-Western Balkans Summit, amid heightened security measures surrounding regional and European gathering.

The thermometer’s risen sharply, both literally and politically, this spring - but even with so much else to preoccupy Britons, the Balkans hasn’t quite slipped off the radar.

Nea Aristera, [New Left] party loses its right to parliamentary group after most of its MPs resign – a decision linked to former PM Alexis Tsipras' formation of a new party.

Ahead of new snap elections, Rrezarta Krasniqi of Democracy for Development, D4D, says Kosovo parties are still failing to go beyond the legal quota when it comes including women on candidates lists.

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.

Black market Botox clinics and DIY injections are putting people’s health at risk.

Elsewhere, Czech police charge four in OnlyFans human-trafficking case; Hungarian PM raises pressure on president to quit; fresh dispute over wartime history frays Polish-Ukrainian ties; Slovak government defends overdue package of measures to support growth.

Critics fear Janez Jansa’s new government will be ideologically driven, copy-pasting policies from Trump’s America and Orban’s Hungary.

Deal between Ukraine and Hungary’s new government over minority rights clears way for Kyiv to start EU accession talks.

As Kosovo heads toward its third election in 16 months – with few signs that it will resolve the political deadlock – acting PM Kurti faces accusations of using public money to swing voters.

A month after the fall of Romania’s coalition government, President Dan has still not named a new prime minister, leaving the country in political limbo.

Edi Rama’s public exchanges with Reporters Without Borders, RSF, over its latest Freedom Index are part of a familiar pattern of redirecting attention away from real problems in society, experts say.

On paper, Bulgaria’s policy offers asylum claimants protection – but in practice does the exact opposite.

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

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’.

US warns it might have to 'reconsider' its role in Bosnia after talks to appoint successor to Christian Schmidt as High Representative failed.

Yugoslav authorities marginalised and airbrushed the Albanian experience of World War Two in Kosovo; today, new forms of historical revisionism overlook the cooperation of Albanian Partisans with the Yugoslav Partisans and the complexity of the conflict.

Despite alleged security threats and a ban on 87 Serbs entering Montenegro, Vucic travels to EU–Western Balkans Summit, saying it is 'important to represent Serbia there'.

Watchdog's new report says routine use of 'unlawful force' during demonstrations combined with high level of impunity has 'chilling effect on right to protest'.

Donald Trump’s son-in-law is headlining a planned luxury development in Albania’s protected Narta Lagoon, but behind him lies a web of colourful business interests knee-deep in controversy.

Protests intensify against planned upscale resort in protected area, linked to Trump's son-in-law – which Prime Minister Edi Rama has strongly defended.

The rule of thumb should be to do the opposite of what the leading ethnic separatists are advocating – which is closure of the OHR.

Nuclear power remains attractive from an energy security and decarbonisation perspective, but as Hungary is showing such projects have become more complicated economically and geopolitically to build than a decade ago.

By the year 2040, will countries in the region choose to consolidate democracy, settle for ‘stabilitocracy’, or descend into full-blown authoritarianism?