Analysis Archives

Since hundreds of Balkan extremists went abroad to fight for Islamic State and other militant groups, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have come under increased international pressure to clamp down on the financing of terrorism.

adi-goldstein-EUsVwEOsblE-unsplash-scaled-e1615368885831-1280x720.jpg

Balkans states might be prepared on paper, but in practice they are struggling to confront the growing threat from cyber-attacks. Bosnia doesn’t have a state-level strategy.

In trying to control the pandemic narrative, governments in the region have turned to draconian tools, muzzling media, arresting critics and bombarding social media giants with requests to take down posts and shut down accounts.

Mirsada Tursunovic, who was raped by a soldier at a detention camp during the Bosnian war, explains how it took 17 years to overcome her fear of being socially ostracised and give evidence against her attacker.

Since the fall of the Islamic State ‘caliphate’, piecemeal efforts by Balkan states to repatriate their nationals from refugee camps in Syria means more than 100 children are still living in squalid, unsafe conditions.

Belgrade-Higher-Court-2-2020-photo-BIRN-scaled-e1604403886859-1280x721-1.jpg

In the last two years, 30 per cent of court hearings in war crimes trials in Serbia have been postponed, raising concerns about the country’s commitment to the rule of law - a key issue in its EU membership negotiations.

Laws and counter-terrorism strategies in the Balkans demonstrate a failure on the part of governments to take seriously the threat from far-right extremism, according to a BIRN analysis.

Bosnia lags behind the rest of the Western Balkans in terms of its strategy on countering terrorism, particularly how to handle fighters returning from foreign wars.

Three years after the assassination of Kosovo Serb opposition party leader Oliver Ivanovic, the still-unsolved murder case is plagued by claims of political interference, obstruction of investigators, concealment of evidence and judicial incompetence.

Illustration.-BIRN_Igor-Vujcic-1280x691.png

The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt acutely by Turkey’s LGBT community, in terms of employment, income, hate speech, violence and discrimination.

Analysis

Balkan States Under Pressure to Prosecute Financiers of Terrorism

Cyber-Attacks a Growing Threat to Unprepared Balkan States

In COVID-19 Fight, Free Speech Becomes Collateral Damage

Bosnian War Rape Survivors ‘Still Afraid to Speak Out’

Slow Pace of Balkan Repatriation Leaves Over 100 Children in Syrian Camps

Justice on Hold: War Trial Delays Jeopardise Serbia’s Progress to EU

Balkan States Failing to Address Threat from Far-Right Extremism

Delays Continue to Dog Bosnian Counter-Terrorism Policy

Cover-Up Claims Shadow Unsolved Murder of Kosovo Serb Politician

COVID-19 Pandemic Makes LGBT Lives in Turkey More Difficult

Pratite nas