The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 22 September to 29 September 2022.
Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia . Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 22 September 2022
Bosnian Serb officials have condemned a Constitutional Court ruling that annuls the property law adopted by the Bosnian Serb assembly in February, declaring that state property belongs to the state, not the entity. The full article can be found here.
Serbia – 22 September 2022
The appeal hearing at the UN’s International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunal, IRMCT, in the case against former Serbian State Security Service officials Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic will be held in January, the IRMCT’s presiding judge Graciela Gatti Santana said. The full article can be found here.
Montenegro – 23 September 2022
A lawyer warned on Friday that the initiative to dismiss President Milo Djukanovic could fail due to the lack of a quorum in the Constitutional Court – which must aprove the initiative. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 26 September 2022
In the Bosnian town of Prijedor, site of some of the worst Bosnian Serb crimes of the 1992-95 war, members of a party in power helped create a right-wing organisation committed to rewriting history. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 26 September 2022
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Bosnian state-level prosecutor Diana Kajmakovic, accusing her of being complicit in corruption and assisting criminals to evade justice. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 27 September 2022
The Bosnian state court handed down a first-instance verdict acquitting Djordje Ristanic, the former head of the war presidency in Brcko, of involvement in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at persecuting Bosniaks and Croats through murders, detentions, torture and forcible disappearances between April and December 1992. The full article can be found here.
Croatia – 28 September 2022
Recently-published census data shows that the number of Serbs and other ethnic groups living in Croatia has fallen – another sign that the country’s minorities need stronger legal protection amid continuing attacks on their rights. The full article can be found here.
Moldova – 29 September 2022
Moldovan President says citizens fighting for Russia in Ukraine will face a range of penalties, from losing their citizenship to stiff jail terms. The full article can be found here.