Nearly three decades after fighting ended, Kosovo has compiled a list of dead and missing from the 1998-99 war, though it still does not distinguish between civilians and combatants or specify ethnicity.

Rights organisations in Montenegro welcome law change offering women suffering from painful menstrual cramps two days' paid leave each month.

As drought intensifies, water management and retention have become critical for the landlocked countries of Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia. Yet their governments have largely come up dry on solutions.

Real estate prices have surged because housing supply has failed to keep pace with rising demand, with planning, regulatory, financing and construction constraints driving affordability challenges.

Since end-May, anti-government protests in Albania have evolved into the largest civil mobilisation since the fall of the dictatorial regime in the early 1990s. With traditional media largely silent, the digital space has become both a refuge for protest and a testing ground for digital authoritarianism.

The Serbian flag displayed on packages of cocaine doesn’t prove the traffickers were linked to Serbia. - but the documented activities of Balkan criminal groups in Ecuador make the possibility worth investigating.

Ozgur Ozel's New Party becomes main opposition party in Turkey's parliament after 91 MPs quit People's Republican Party, CHP, to join him.

Hungary’s PM fired the president, fulfilling a campaign pledge to remove ‘Fidesz puppets’ from public office. A shambolic attempt to nominate a successor grabbed the headlines, but the focus should be on the government’s drafting of an entirely new constitution.

Former private equity chef Vasile Tofan is pledging to kickstart growth through tough free-market reforms – but can Moldovan society and its nervous ruling party swallow such medicine?

Western city of Oradea again says no to Pride Parade for fourth consecutive year – adding to concerns about backsliding on LGBTQ+ rights in the EU-member country.

Critics say agency is making emailed appeals over denied access to public information harder by insisting on electronic signatures, which cost money.

Stigma still cloaks the issue of wartime sexual violence in Kosovo, but even more so for survivors from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian minorities.

Getting rid of the Orban-appointed president was a big victory for Hungary’s new government, but the rushed attempt to nominate chess legend Judit Polgar as his successor is its first major blunder.

Following numerous EU reports lamenting its absence, Serbia's media regulator finally holds constitutive session – a year-and-a-half after the previous regulatory council's mandate expired.

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

The current crisis is not just about parties that refuse to govern; it’s about an electorate that seems to incentivise refusal to take responsibility.

The 2026 report found that 47 per cent of its recommendations made in last year's report have been followed up, either fully or partially.

Aged eight, Zijo Ribic survived the massacre of his entire family by Serbian paramilitaries in the first months of the Bosnian war. In a new book, he speaks of survival, suffering, and an embrace of love and humanity.

Elsewhere, Russia’s FSB links alleged Moscow drone plot to Slovakia; leader of Czech coalition party Motorists under fire after Prague car crash; Poland not among founding members of new European coalition to develop ballistic missile defence.

Rock star and charity founder Haluk Levent is accused of using donations to his high-profile NGO for his own purposes.

Red Star Belgrade and the Serbian Progressive Party have successive victories in common – and both benefit from a system that consistently reinforces the power of whoever is at the top.

Former guerrilla turned politician Sami Lushtaku is cleared of obstructing justice and intimidating witnesses in his trial for war crimes – of which he was cleared in 2017.

The Trump administration is now making it clear that it sees the Balkans as a field to pursue its commercial, energy and defence-related interests – and not ‘democracy-building’.

Country pays tribute to veteran actor and comedian whose work made him a household name across several generations and who has died aged 75.

Fair trials advocate Ivana Petkovska tells BIRN that political interference and underfunding are pushing the justice system to the brink.

The biggest rupture on the Polish right in many years could sharply reduce PiS’s chances of returning to power in next year’s parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Edi Rama has blamed social media algorithms for fuelling the so-called Flamingo Revolution protests, but data obtained by BIRN shows that hundreds of fake accounts have been created to push the government’s own narrative and denigrate the protesters.

Confrontation erupts as MPs gather for the final parliamentary session before the summer holidays, as daily anti-government demonstrations continue.

The flow of people and goods through the Accursed Mountains was disrupted by the turbulence of the 1990s and has yet to be fully restored.

EU and OSCE regret bulldozing of allegedly illegally-built Serb villas near important lake, urging authorities to respect due process and the property rights of all the communities in the country.

The cry of protesters that ‘Albania is not for sale’ is misinterpreted when it is portrayed as a rejection of all investment. Its proper interpretation is procedural: any transfer of common assets must take place in full transparency - with prices determined through competition, permits made public, and beneficiaries clearly identified.

Successful hacking of the national cadastre has brought real estate transactions to a halt – and revealed the poor state of cybersecurity in the country’s major institutions.

Bosnia and Herzegovina already has factories making the ammunition the Western military alliance needs right now – but without recognition and investment, their potential will go untapped.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev says parliament will likely approve US military aircraft using Bezmer airfield in central Bulgaria for refuelling purposes - after previously criticising the presence of US planes at Sofia’s main airport.

Music artists who have expressed support for anti-government protests in Serbia say live bookings have dried up as generous public funds are channelled to pop and folk performers aligned with the ruling party.

A criminal complaint was filed against Aleksandar Radic for suggesting that a 'sonic weapon' was used by the authorities to disperse a huge anti-government rally in March last year.

Despite its shift toward authoritarianism, Turkey is an important partner for the EU due to growing security dilemmas and its significant geostrategic value.

The European Commission this week urged Albania’s premier to repeal controversial amendments to environmental and investment legislation in order to conserve nature and wildlife - but in parliament, the ruling majority is blocking opposition initiatives to achieve this.

Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s acquittal of graft charges sends concerning message that politicians abusing power will never be held accountable.

Crisis within the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, forces its embattled leader to break off talks to form a governing colaition with Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje.

Amid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a massive cull of sheep and goats on Lesvos threatens livelihoods - and a way of life.

Retrial upholds ten-year sentence for ethnic Gorani ex-police officer who assaulted ethnic Albanian prisoners during the Kosovo war, one of whom died.

Litter, construction debris and untreated wastewater are conspiring to undermine Albania’s bid to become the next big tourist destination on the Adriatic and Ionian seas.

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

In many cases, men separated or divorced from their partners are failing to pay, paying too little, or paying too late for the upbringing of their children, putting a large financial burden on single mothers, according to a BIRN survey.

From Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ to Turkey’s embattled opposition, BIRN’s premium selection of stories this week tell a fighting mood is visible across south-east Europe, despite the summer heat.

Elsewhere, Hungary’s chief prosecutor resigns amid mounting pressure from new government; President Nawrocki vetoes civil partnerships in Poland; political rift deepens as Czech president overrules government’s budget amendment.

BIRN has documented at least 25 incidents of satellite navigation interference over Serbia in the past four years, sometimes coinciding with major anti-government protests and often messing with sensitive aircraft positioning data.

Ozgur Ozel’s new party is generating excitement in opposition ranks – but translating a buzz into a political force capable of challenging President Erdogan won’t be easy.

Serbian prosecutors suspect organised crime group used licensed company in North Macedonia to traffic nearly five tonnes of marijuana into Serbia - a case that raised questions about possible spillover from North Macedonia's medical marijuana farms.

Brussels’ double standards towards North Macedonia over its historical disagreements with Bulgaria reflect the EU’s wider failure to adopt a strategy that addresses various bilateral disputes in the Western Balkans.

Lab tests back claims that human faeces have polluted Gostivar's drinking water, causing a major health crisis – with more than 3,000 locals falling ill so far.

Accidents involving out-of-control jet skis in Albania are on the rise – and fines and police crackdowns don’t seem to be deterring reckless operators.

Prosecutorial Council dismisses requests from several Serb prosecutors who joined a mass boycott of Kosovo institutions in 2022 to resume their former posts.

Mirjana Jankulovska tells BIRN about her 15-year struggle to rescue rare crop varieties from oblivion that have survived only in North Macedonia’s remote villages.

A number of judges and prosecutors who joined the mass resignation of Kosovo Serbs from state bodies in 2022 reportedly want their old jobs back.

From fresh battles over memory in Bosnia to the acquittal of North Macedonia’s former PM and Turkey’s post-coup legacy, this week’s Balkan Insight Premium stories show how contested history keeps the region chained to its past.

A damaged parcel, left unclaimed in a warehouse, turned out to hold a homemade bomb – and exposed a young Russian's years-long entanglement with Moscow's security service, and the wife he drew into it.

European prosecutors charge 22 people in Greece, including four MPs, with involvement in EU agricultural funds fraud.

The process of appointing Zejnullah Gashi as Chief State Prosecutor lacked vital transparency and integrity tests, claims a monitoring report by BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova.