 RFE/RL Balkan Report 11/19/2009 4:46:27 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the western Balkans. For more stories on the Balkans, please visit and bookmark our Balkans page . |
 Brokering Bosnia's Future No Easy Task In Sarajevo, international negotiators are meeting to discuss the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which suffered through three years of war in the 1990s and has struggled ever since to overcome ethnic divisions and establish a peaceful, unified government. At issue is whether the time has come to close the international post responsible for supervising the country's elected officials. More  Huge Crowds Mourn Serbian Orthodox Leader Pavle Throngs from Serbia and neighboring countries paid final tribute today to Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle, who presided over the revival of the faith after decades of communist rule. More  Key Council Meets In Sarajevo Over Fate Of OHR The 55-member international body that supervises Bosnia's peace process is gathering in Sarajevo to discuss whether to extend the mandate of its main civilian overseer there. More  Monitors Praise Smooth Ballot in Kosovo Elections (Intro) Preliminary results from Kosovo's November 15 elections have been delayed another day due to what election officials say are technical difficulties with the system designed to gather data from polling stations. Despite the delay, outside observers hailed the election as a success. RFE/RL's Central Newsroom reports. More  Vote Count Begins After First 'Sovereign' Ballot Vote counting has begun in Kosovo's first elections since the territory declared independence from Serbia nearly two years ago. But officials were already grappling with apparent irregularities in the landmark voting. More  Serbian Patriarch Presided Over Stormy Times The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Pavle, has died after a lengthy battle with age-related illness. The 95-year-old patriarch's death ends nearly two decades of leadership that spanned one of the most painful chapters in modern Serbian history. More  Serbian Candidates Run In Landmark Kosovo Vote Voters in Kosovo are at the polls for the first elections since the region declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. The municipal elections are seen as a critical opportunity to engage Kosovo's minority Serbs in the political process, despite objections from Belgrade. More  Banja Luka's Autonomy Offensive Envoys from Bosnia's Serbian entity came to Washington this week to make the case for ending 14 years of international supervision. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Sarajevo and left no doubt where his country stands on the question of closing the Office of the High Representative. More  Unmasking The Truth About Swine Flu As concerns over massive outbreaks of swine flu rise in many countries with the onset of the influenza season, doctors say much is misunderstood about how people contract the disease. We speak to experts to learn more, and whether there is any cause for panic. RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel reports. More |
