Latest News from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia Court Cancels Permit for Drina Power Plant

The District Court in Banja Luka, administrative centre of the mainly Serbian Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, RS, has cancelled the environmental permit for the planned Buk Bijela hydropower plant on the river Drina in Bosnia, the Aarhus Resource Center said on Thursday, following the court's May 13 ruling in favour of the Center's complaint.

Cigarette Smugglers Find Safe Harbour in Montenegro, Again

In the early hours of March 16, 2015, a fishing boat named the Zahra moored metres off a rocky, remote stretch of Messara Bay, on the southern coast of the Greek island of Crete.

Songs Bring Locals and Migrants Together in Bosnian Town

An innovative project in Bihac, in north-west Bosnia, is bringing locals and migrants together around a shared love of music.

Bosnia Minister Calls Protest Over Top Judicial Official

Dragan Mektic, the Minister of Security in Bosnia, has called for public protests on Wednesday in front of the building of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, HJPC, after a video emerged suggesting its boss had taken a bribe.

American Creates Bosnia Mini-Museum at His US Home

On display at Mathieu's home in Wisconsin are various items from Bosnia, most of them souvenirs from the 1984 Winter Olympics, but also memorabilia from the 1990s war years such as flags and badges.

"The idea for a museum or some kind of display emerged over the years as I accumulated artefacts. When I would visit Bosnia I would bring back lots of items," he told BIRN.

Bosnian Serb Ex-Fighter Charged with Attacking Bosniak Villages

The Bosnian state prosecution on Friday charged against Zeljko Novakovic with committing crimes against humanity in the villages of Alici and Ekici, where 27 Bosniak civilians were killed on June 22, 1992.

Balkan States Backsliding on War Crime Cases, Hague Prosecutor Warns

Serge Brammertz. Photo: EPA/EVERT-JAN DANIELS.

More political will and cooperation between former Yugoslav states is needed for the remaining suspects from the 1990s wars to be brought to justice, Hague chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said on Thursday.

Old Stories are Hot News in Balkan Media

A number of media outlets in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia duly "reported" this development, some for the second time, since they also reported it three years ago.

Most of them quoted Radio Free Europe, RFE, saying that after the movement was registered on April 18, this had drawn negative reactions from the public and prompted the Montenegrin NGO Civil Alliance to request a ban.

Merkel and Weber Must Reject the Croatian HDZ’s Radical Agenda

The HDZ and its sister party in Bosnia and Herzegovina have long advocated ethnically 'federalising' Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is in line with the HDZ's embrace of convicted war criminals who took part in a joint effort to carve up the country with Bosnian Serb separatists during the 1992-95 war.

EU Attention Finally Rests on the Balkans Amid Growing Chinese Influence

There are currently five major Balkan candidates for EU enlargement: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and North Macedonia and Turkey. While talks with Turkey have stuttered, the remaining countries could prove pivotal for the EU to continue its policy of enlargement of its union of democratic markets.

Angela Merkel in Croatian Nationalist Song Controversy

A spokesperson for Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the German Chancellor was not familiar with the nationalist song that was performed at the Croatian Democratic Union rally that she attended on Saturday, and was not informed about the content of the event's musical programme in advance.

Ukraine War Veterans Bind Russia and Bosnian Serbs

Fighting in foreign wars was outlawed in Bosnia in 2014 in response to the flow of roughly 200 Bosniaks to fight with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and of ethnic Serbs to the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists rebelled in 2014 following the ouster of Ukraine's then pro-Russian president.