Latest News from Serbia

Serbian Security Chiefs Begin Defence at Hague Trial

Lawyer Wayne Jordash told the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals as the trial resumed on Tuesday that the defence will call witnesses who will confirm that Jovica Stanisic, the former chief of the Serbian state security service, was not in command of Serbian paramilitary or police units in Bosnia or Croatia during the war, as the indictment claims.

Montenegro Church Law Unites Serbia in Outrage

Media in Serbia have accused the government of Montenegro of planning to "rob" the Serbian Orthodox Church, SOC, of its assets, while Serbian officials warn that a proposed law on Church property will worsen diplomatic relations.

Bosnian Mosques Targeted by Vandalism, Srebrenica Threats

The mufti's office in Tuzla on Friday condemned what it described as a series of attacks on Islamic Community property in the towns of Zvornik and Bijeljina in recent weeks.

Unidentified persons destroyed four gravestones and caused considerable damage at the Kazanbasca Muslim cemetery in Zvornik during the night of June 7, the Tuzla mufti's office said.

Serbian Nationalist Flaunts Freedom with Ukraine Call to Arms

Zivkovic, however, was investigated on suspicion of organising the participation of Serb fighters in the war. He was arrested in August last year in the southern Serbian town of Krusevac but on June 12 the local prosecutor's office told BIRN it had suspended the investigation against him, without specifying why.

Bulgarian PM Borisov and Defence Minister Karakachanov Watch a Military Training in Shabla

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and senior military officers from the United States and Serbia are currently watching the battle firing of the tactical teaching "Shabla 2019".

The demonstrations are also attended by Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov and Defense Chief General Andrey Bocev, BTA reports.

The training includes air defense formations by the Bulgarian Army.

Turkey's Halkbank opens 34th branch in Serbia

Turkish lender Halkbank on June 12 added a new branch to its network in Serbia, where it already has a widespread presence.

Serbia to Host Slavic Brotherhood Military Exercise

Paratroopers from Serbia will join elite counterparts from Russia and Belarus for this year's Slavic Military Brotherhood exercise over 13 days between June 14 and 27 in Pancevo, in northern Serbia.

‘Nobody Hears You’: Migrants, Refugees Beaten on Balkan Borders

Between May 2017 and May last year, NNK recorded 215 reported cases of push-backs by Croatian police to Serbia, of which 45 per cent involved physical violence.

Between May 2017 and December last year, there were 141 push-backs from Croatia to Bosnia, NNK reported, of which 84 per cent involved violence.

Global Peace Index Shows Balkans Getting More Peaceful

The latest Global Peace Index published by the International Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent think tank that aims to measure peace and stability in the world, says the world was a slightly more peaceful place last year.

Half of Bulgaria's Exports are for 6 Countries

In the first four months of the year, exports of goods from Bulgaria to third countries grew by 14.7% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 5.9 billion levs. Bulgaria's main trading partners are Turkey, China, Serbia, the USA, Northern Macedonia, which accounted for 51.9% of the exports to third countries, according to data from the National Statistical Institute.