Ethnic groups in the Balkans

"When discussing delicate issues, I want to make it clear - no one is negotiating identity! Language and other attributes of identity are issues that derive from the right to self-determination of every person, of every people, of every ethnic community, of every state, and this is an inviolable right, stronger than any other right.

"Dimitar Kovachevski has been the Prime Minister of RN Macedonia for a week and has spent 4 of those 8 days with the Bulgarian government. This indicates a desire to get the job done." This was stated by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, answering questions from members of parliament about the consequences of the two meetings with the Macedonian Prime Minister.

FeatureChapter 1The unthinkable happens

A view of the western bank of the River Drina in the centre of Gorazde. Photo: Tom Barlow-Brown.

The Cantonal Court in Zenica delivered a first-instance verdict on Friday acquitting Ivica Jukic, alias Juka, of mistreating Bosniak prisoners of war at the Silos Nova Trgovina detention facility in Zepce in August 1993.

Presiding judge Enes Malicbegovic said that some of the testimonies from witnesses who had allegedly been mistreated were either contradictory or too similar.

According to Croatian media, the new Serbian Law on Cultural Heritage, adopted by the Serbian Parliament in late December, states that the old library material of Serbia includes "editions of Dubrovnik literature that belong to both Serbian and Croatian culture up to 1867."

For the seventh time in a row, Bulgaria took part in the solemn Christmas concert in the Canadian capital Ottawa, coordinated by the EU Delegation and realized with the help of all embassies of EU member states. The Bulgarian ambassador attended the event.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at a rural cemetery in Morani in North Macedonia in the cold rain on Friday to bury 10 locals, including eight students who were among the 45 killed in a bus crash in Bulgaria, Reuters reported

Albanians once debated and celebrated each small step on the path to membership of the European Union. Now, the lack of any tangible progress is barely mentioned.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Bosnian presidency members Sefik Dzeferovic, Zeljko Komsic and Milorad Dodik in Belgrade, October 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC.

The NGOs' joint letter also criticised the inaction of the international community and recalled the consequences of the 1990s war in Bosnia.

Bulgaria may surpass its darkest years in terms of mortality. The gloomy prognosis was made by the mathematician Lachezar Tomov on the air of "Hello, Bulgaria". He, businessman Krassimir Dachev and Ivan Todorov, deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Hospital Association, commented on the complicated situation.