News
Deadly Addiction: Albania Needs Liberating From the Flow of Drug Money
1+ hour, 29+ min ago (133+ words) Balkan Insight It was always known " and always officially denied " that Albania's construction boom, which started in 2018, was fuelled mainly from laundered drug money earned by Albanian organised crime structures across the world. And if both law enforcement and the…...
North Macedonia Election Law Blocked by Row Over Diaspora E-Voting
2+ hour, 47+ min ago (491+ words) A debate in parliament over a new election law was suspended almost immediately after it began on Wednesday, after thousands of amendments were submitted by the opposition. The main opposition Social Democratic Union, SDSM, filed some 10, 000 amendments, accusing the ruling…...
As Phone Fraud Accelerates in Moldova, Suspicion Falls on Russia
7+ hour, 4+ min ago (145+ words) Balkan Insight In front of Chisinau's bustling central market, police officer Viorica Pascari was on a mission to alert the population to the threat of large-scale financial scams being perpetrated over the phone. "We chose this location because of the…...
In Kosovo, Childbirth Too Often Comes With Verbal Abuse, Neglect, Negligence
7+ hour, 30+ min ago (176+ words) A. H. gave birth three times in Kosovo's University Clinical Centre, but the treatment she says she endured was no better the third time than the first. Faced with having to undergo a cesarean section, A. H. , who spoke on condition she was identified…...
Serbian Opposition Leader Grilled by Police Over Sound Cannon Allegations
21+ hour, 45+ min ago (528+ words) Officers from the Criminal Police Directorate questioned Zdravko Ponos, head of the opposition party Serbia Centre, SRCE, on Wednesday, over his claims that a sound cannon was used against anti-government protesters at a major rally in Belgrade on March 15 last…...
BIRN Launches App Marking Bosnia's Unmarked War Crime Sites
21+ hour, 56+ min ago (321+ words) BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday has launched its new "Virtual Memories" app that allows users to access virtual memorials at locations of war crimes in Bosnia that have never been officially marked. BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina's director Denis Dzidic…...
Greek Police Probe Attacks on Ruling Party Officials' Homes
1+ day, 1+ hour ago (243+ words) Greek anti-terrorist police units are investigating after gas canister bombs were placed outside the apartment buildings of three officials of the ruling New Democracy party in Thessaloniki early on Wednesday, injuring five people. Police in Thessaloniki told BIRN that the…...
Despite US and EU Calls, Montenegro Yet to Require Removal of Chinese Telecoms Equipment
1+ day, 1+ hour ago (1079+ words) Montenegro has yet to rid its main telecoms networks of Chinese-manufactured equipment despite pressure from the United States and the European Union and pledges from the government to do so, BIRN can reveal. In November last year, the US State…...
Impossible to Discredit: The Far-Right Theatre of Polands Grzegorz Braun
1+ day, 7+ hour ago (1779+ words) In December 2023, as Poland's parliament, the Sejm, marked the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, Grzegorz Braun strode into the main hall and blasted the candles on the menorah with a fire extinguisher. For most politicians, to repeatedly court such scandal would…...
Bosnia and Herzegovina's World Cup Run is Challenging Ignorance in the US
1+ day, 7+ hour ago (690+ words) While many are embracing this fandom, some folks are still writing Bosnia off, however." During a TV segment last week discussing the US men's national team going up against Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABC7 reporter Abigail Velez made disparaging comments about Bosnia…...