Balkans

The state court in Sarajevo has asked Interpol to call for the arrests of Dusan Cimes, Slobodan Curcic and Goran Mojovic, who are all wanted to face war crimes charges but are currently living abroad.

Cimes is accused of participating in a widespread and systematic attack by the Bosnian Serb Army and police against the Bosniak civilian population.

The Bosnian state court has confirmed an indictment charging former reservist policeman Milorad Krunic, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, with crimes against humanity, BIRN has learned.

The European Union could open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia within weeks as both countries have made good progress in their preparations, the European Commission's enlargement chief, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Thursday.

Turkey on March 27 congratulated North Macedonia and Albania for opening accession talks with the European Union.

"We congratulate our friends and Allies North Macedonia and Albania on the start of their EU accession negotiations and the EU," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The country, which has been run by the same party for the past three decades, has a long record of restricting human rights and violating data privacy rights.

Activists fear the government will exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to clamp down further. The government says its overriding priority is to protect the lives and health of Montenegrin citizens.

Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced that the European Union is sending € 38 million in emergency aid to the health care system of the Western Balkan countries.

More than € 373 million is planned for the socio-economic recovery of the region from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Olivér Várhelyi wrote on Twitter.

President Donald Trump has highlighted strengthened defense and security cooperation between the United States and Greece saying that close partnership between the two NATO allies promotes Washington's interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Western Balkans.

Today, the weather conditions in the country will remain complex. In northern and western Bulgaria, snow will continue to fall and accumulate.  

The European Union can start membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, according to a draft decision by the bloc's 27 member states seen by Reuters on Monday and due to be finalised this week.

The exhibition opening in Belgrade. Photo: Igor Coko.

'Peace with Women's Face', an exhibition about women's experiences of surviving the 1992-1995 Bosnian war and overcoming the consequences in the post-conflict era, runs until March 17 at the Youth Initiative for Human Rights NGO's exhibition space in Belgrade.