RFE/RL Balkan Report
3/17/2011 7:44:52 PM
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the western Balkans.
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The Balkans -- All Talk And No Listening
Every time I publish a commentary on RFE/RL's English-language website or on the website of our Balkans Service, I watch in amazement as the reader comments begin to come in. But it isn't because I am so brilliant or even controversial. It is because my topics attract an audience that knows how to speak, but is incapable of listening. More 
Mladic Pal Made Serbian Minister
The fugitive Ratko Mladic's ability to evade capture has vexed the international community, and the elevation to a cabinet-level position of a man who is rumored to have helped an accused war criminal escape justice could affect Belgrade's relations with the West. More A memorial center dedicated to Holocaust victims was officially opened on March 10 in the Macedonian capital, Skopje. More 
'Positive Start' To Kosovo-Serbia Talks
The European Union today said that talks between Serbia and Kosovo are off to a positive start in Brussels, after the start of a two-day EU-brokered meeting between the parties. More 
Divjak's Extradition 'Unthinkable'
Austria's foreign minister says the extradition of a former Bosnian army general to Serbia over war crimes allegations would be "unthinkable." More 
In Serbia, It's Time To Issue A Warrant For The Truth
The recent arrest on a Serbian warrant of Bosnian Army General Jovan Divjak in Vienna was just the latest in a series of provocations by dark, internal forces within Serbia who continue to fight the last war. More 
Frankfurt Shooter 'Acted Alone'
German federal prosecutors say the killing of two U.S. servicemen in a shooting at Frankfurt airport this week was the act of an individual and not a militant network. More 
Kosovo's Unwelcome Role In Frankfurt Terror Deaths
It feels like a day of mourning in Pristina. Shock, anger, and dismay are palpable in the streets of Kosovo's capital against the backdrop of today's headlines: "Kosovar Kills Two U.S. Army Men At Frankfurt Airport." More 
Serbian U Stands By Qaddafi Doctorate
A private Serbian university that awarded an honorary doctorate to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said it will not revoke the degree because it was given for scientific reasons. More 
Frankfurt Shooting Suspect 'Islamist'
Prosecutors in Germany say they suspect Islamic militancy as the motive for the deadly gun attack on U.S. airmen at Frankfurt Airport. The suspected gunman, who is in police custody, is described as an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo. More 
U.K. Slashes Aid To 16 Nations
The British government has said it will stop funding 16 countries and four United Nations' agencies in order to focus its overseas aid budget to better help poor and conflict-ridden countries. They include China, Russia, Vietnam, Moldova, Cameroon, Kosovo, Iraq and Serbia. More 
Qadaffi Talks To Serbia's Pink TV
Embattled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's choice of a private Serbian television station for an exclusive interview highlights the longtime close relations between Belgrade and Tripoli. More 
Q&A: U.S. Ambassador Says 'Status Of Kosovo Is Settled'
It has been a week of dramatic political events in Kosovo that saw the election of businessman Behgjet Pacolli as president and the confirmation of a new government headed by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. More 
Kosovo's New President Takes Office Amid Controversy
As a result of political deal-making, Kosovo now has a president with close personal and business ties to a country that strenuously opposes Kosovo's independence and a prime minister who has been linked to allegations of trafficking in human organs during the 1990s conflict with Serbia. More 
Balkan Nationals Flee Libya
More than half of the 1,500 Bosnians, half of the estimated 1,000 Serbians, and nearly all of the some 300 Croatians living in Libya had applied to their governments to be evacuated. More 
Thaci Reelected As Kosovo PM
Kosovo's parliament today elected Hashim Thaci to a second term as prime minister and businessman Behgjet Pacolli as president, following December’s general elections. More 
Exporting Nonviolent Revolution, From Eastern Europe To The Middle East
A Serbian pro-democracy NGO comprising activists who spearheaded the overthrow of former President Slobodan Milosevic and assisted in the colored revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, has now taken its know-how to the Middle East. More 
Three Years After Independence, Kosovo Struggles For Recognition
On February 17, Kosovo celebrates the third anniversary of its independence. The country is gradually consolidating its statehood. The political, social, and economic difficulties are still enormous; international ties are thin, but growing. More 
Serbia Calls for Organ-Trafficking Probe
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic called on the United Nations to conduct an international investigation into allegations that Kosovo's prime minister and his associates were connected to organ trafficking in 1999-2000. More 
Mladic Friend May Be New Serb Minister
A close friend and doctor of the family of alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic has been nominated to be Serbian health minister. More 
In New Book, Whistle-Blower Alleges U.S., UN Involvement In Bosnian Sex Trafficking
Kathryn Bolkovac was a policewoman in Nebraska who decided to travel to postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina to serve with the UN police forces there. Less than two years later, she was fired after repeatedly presenting evidence that American and UN workers in Bosnia were involved in sex crimes involving underage girls trafficked illegally. More A Gallup poll shows that two thirds of Montenegrins are afraid to express their political opinion. A director for Gallup described that result as "alarming." More 
Serb Opposition Holds Big Protest
Tens of thousands of Serbian opposition supporters protested in Belgrade on February 5 against economic hardships and corruption in their country -- and to demand that President Boris Tadic call early parliamentary elections. More |
