Bosnia and Herzegovina

They warn that years of political divisions, zero-sum games, distrust and poor communication between local leaders, as well as growing tensions among key regional and global actors, have left Bosnia a ticking time-bomb that could go off at any moment, leading to the collapse of the remaining joint institutions or even the breakup of the country.

The first-ever Pride March passed off peacefully in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after starting Sunday at noon. After the participants gathered in front of the Eternal Flame, a well-known memorial dedicated to victims of World War II, a few hundred people marched through Tito Street, Sarajevo's main street, and ended in front of the state-level parliament.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has issued a protest note about recent comments made by the Serb member of Bosnia's state presidency in support of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Earlier this week, Milorad Dodik stated in his interview to Russkiy reporter that he "considers Crimea to be Russian", and that Bosnian recognition of this unilateral annexation was "necessary".

"We recommended to the Bosnian state prosecution to reconstitute regional teams that they had in order to maintain expertise in a particular area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I think a part of [the problem] is the management, a part of it is the quality of indictments, so I think that there is an issue there," Berton explained.

Sarajevo is getting ready to host its first Pride parade on Sunday, aimed at supporting protection of the rights of the LGBTIQ community, which some 500 people are expected to join. However, the march will be matched by counter-marches held both the day before and on the same day as the Pride event.

Sarajevo, which withstood a bloody siege by Bosnian Serb forces for 1,425 days during the 1992-95 war, has long been viewed as a city of tolerance, a cultural capital and a city that exudes resilience.

The deadline agreed between the leaders of thre three main parties in Bosnia on forming a state-level government - the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD - expired on Thursday.

Concrete stumbling blocks?

In a television appearance earlier this week, Sarajevo's cantonal minister of interior affairs, Admir Katica, stated that "additional requests have been made" to purchase concrete barriers to be placed in side streets along the proposed route of the march, increasing the security of the participants.

Turbulence Ahead

The deep summer season is not yet over, but with Presidential elections due in November in Romania, political life is heating up. With the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) having quit the Social Democratic Party (PSD) led government, the PSD now finds itself without an absolute majority in Parliament.

However, associations of families of missing persons argue that the Bosnian Missing Persons Institute, the International Commission on Missing Persons and the Bosnian state prosecution should have found more of the remaining missing persons by now.

Police and security services 'concealing information'