Slavic

The trial of Zdravko Mustac and Josip Perkovic, former Yugoslav intelligence chiefs accused of killing a Croat émigré, heard claims that a key prosecution witness was an assassin and a German spy.

BELGRADE - A ceremony marking 70 years since the liberation of Belgrade in World War II was held at Centre Sava on Sunday evening, bringing together government officials and Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali.

The ceremony also gathered Jasmina Mitrovic Maric, on behalf of the Serbian president, WWII veterans from Serbia and allied countries, diplomatic corps and public figures.

Ukraine and Russia stood on the verge of resolving their latest gas war in time to keep the war-scarred nation and EU clients warm through the winter months.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic had a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Manuel Valls discussing the preparations for the upcoming visit of the French Prime Minister to Serbia.

The first hearing for Zdravko Mustac and Josip Perkovic, two former Yugoslav Intelligence officers accused of killing a Croat emigre, started on Friday in Munich.

Serbian police have arrested one person, following a series of attacks on Albanian-owned shops in Serbia that came after a football match raised tensions to boiling point in the country.

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The Supreme Court of Bosnia's Federation entity acquitted former Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina member Hajrudin Trle of war crimes.

A defence witness told Ratko Mladic’s trial that the Bosnian Serb Army put civilians of all ethnicities in a school in Rogatica in 1992 to protect them from the fighting in the area.

The three Balkan countries, which have few alternative sources for heating and industry, will be hard hit if Russia halts gas supplies to Europe, Brussels warns.

For Bosnia, Macedonia and Serbia "supplies from Russia are the dominant source of gas and the supply takes place solely through one transit route via Ukraine," the analysis notes.

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BELGRADE - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday Serbia would not impose sanctions on Russia, and that it would continue with its EU integration.