Birn

Cakalli is the founder of an informal Bosnian branch of a Turkish far-right group known as the Grey Wolves (Bozkurtlar), some of whose members support neo-fascist ideas. The Grey Wolves are officially called Idealist Hearths (Ulku Ocaklari) and their organisation is affiliated with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, MHP, which is an ally of the Turkish ruling party.

Bosnia's capital Sarajevo is gearing up for its fourth Pride March this Saturday, which will be held during the Pride Month for the first time and culminate a month of activities dedicated to bringing families and their queer members closer.

Alen Basil in 2012. Photo: Facebook

When BIRN called Basil to ask about the claims that he is involved in the people-smuggling business, he denied the accusations.

"I am a court translator, I work with the court and of course I am mentioned [n that context], because I am there with the prosecutor and with the court," he said.

The Hungarian government's attempt to scrap a concert to raise funds for Ukraine was foiled by an independent mayor, local media reported on Sunday.

The end of 2017 was also the end of Malcolm Simmons' career as an international judge in the Balkans.

Data that BIRN has obtained show that while only three cases of indoor cannabis cultivation were recorded during 2021, the number of cases rose to 18 by May this year.

BIRN asked police for data over the last five years, but they did not have records for before 2021.

Sali Berisha appeared to be back in charge of Albania's main centre-right opposition Democratic Party after nine years, after he won 93 per cent of votes cast by around 40,000 party members on Sunday.

"Children are not sufficiently recognised as victims in the context of gender-based violence because it is not sufficiently recognised how violence affects children's emotional, physical, psychological development, their behaviour and the process of socialisation," Padejski Sekerovic told BIRN.

A lack of capacity in social welfare centres means that many children - mainly from Kosovo's Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities - are left to fend for themselves, forced into work from an early age despite the dangers. Despite the odd police operation against human traffickers or abusive parents, Kosovo's state institutions largely turn a blind eye.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday night said Russian air traffic control had told him that a NATO fighter jet tracked an Air Serbia passenger plane within Russian airspace on Wednesday near the Latvian border.

Making it clear he accepted the Russian claim, Vucic said Serbia would seek additional information from Russia and from NATO.