28 February 2024
Russian media Sputnik and RT (Russia Today) Balkans operating in Serbia, are used as propaganda tools by Putin’s Russia and represent Russian “soft power” in the region. This propaganda from Moscow, disseminated through the contents published by both Russian media outlets and republished by Serbian media, reaches, and is read everywhere in the Western Balkans, […]
21 February 2024
Leskovac school comics “Nikola Mitrović Kokan,” operating within the Leskovac Cultural Centre, announced that they will organize the event “The Balkans festival of young comics creators” for the twenty-sixth time in 2024. The event will take place from June 28th to 30th in the premises of Leskovac Cultural Center, the National Museum of Leskovac and […]
23 December 2023
Based on the information gathered and the analyses conducted thus far, the CRTA Election Observation Mission expresses a well-founded suspicion that in the elections on December 17, organized voter migrations occurred to an extent that crucially influenced the outcome of the very close elections for the Belgrade City Assembly – this is the main conclusion […]
21 December 2023
CRTA Election Observation Mission in their preliminary assessment about the Election Day in Serbia alarmed about drastic abuses of voters’ rights, laws and institutions that escalated on 17th December. “We bring attention to serious concerns regarding the quality of Parliamentary elections, and their further departure from standards for free and fair elections. Considering the scope […]
21 December 2023
Criminalizing once again the insult and slander, designating all non-governmental organizations that receive foreign donations (including the organizations working in journalism) as “agents of foreign influence” and establishing a Media Register, where the state decides who may or may not perform a journalistic activity. These are just some of the draft-law provisions that present a […]
16 December 2023
Slovenian band Joker out, reached a sudden rise to fame after their performance on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest and have followed up their success by heading on a big European tour. Although they started off with the classic high-school-band story, today they are considered to be one of the most successful performers in the […]
15 December 2023
On 30 October 2023, the Court of Appeal in Belgrade issued a decision annulling the first-instance verdict in the Štrpci Case and returning the case for retrial. The Humanitarian Law Center considers it inadmissible that thirty years after the abduction and murder of twenty civilians in Štrpci, the judicial authorities are unable to conduct the procedure in a […]
13 December 2023
Greece will not consent to the next stage in Albania’s EU accession talks if there is no progress on the matter of the elected mayor of Himare, Fredi Beleri, Greek diplomatic sources reiterated in Brussels on Tuesday, writes Greek news agency ANA-MPA. The same sources underlined that Greece’s position is clear and has been explained […]
6 December 2023
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon want to work together to boost the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union, they said at talks in Ljubljana on Tuesday, writes German news agency DPA. “It is our common goal to promote the accession of the Western Balkan countries […]
1 December 2023
Bujar Osmani, the current Chairman of the OSCE and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, said today that the Russian Federation is a factor of destabilization in the Western Balkans region. Unlike the US and EU support for N.Macedonia and the entire region, Russia does not play the identical role in the Western Balkans, […]
24 July 2023
It was just a matter of time. Montenegro has been a foreign money magnet since the Yugoslav wars ended, especially since it gained independence in 2006, writes Natalie Sarkic-Todd, in „The Battleground“ Below Meta.mk News Agency republishes the article: The Balkan state is a low-tax, low-cost euro haven that borders Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia, […]
18 July 2023
Printscreen from the online campaign for positive promotion of the party bots in Serbia | Source: Instagram profile of Aleksandar Vučić Someone is a proud political party bot, while another is praising the party leader and attacking his opponents, under the threat of losing his/her job. Yet, one thing is certain – the number […]
23 June 2023
The Russian embassies in Skopje and Sofia recently celebrated the National Holiday of the Russian Federation “Russia Day” by organizing receptions in both capitals thereby sending scandalous messages regarding the Russian military aggression in Ukraine. Today, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was forced to publicly respond and condemn the attempts of the Russian Ambassador, […]
9 June 2023
This article by Ardit Kika was originally produced for and published by Kosovo 2.0 as part of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub project. It has been republished here with permission. Serbia, Russia and China are the main disseminators of disinformation in Kosovo and about Kosovo. Serbian-speaking audiences are the main targets of disinformation from Serbian […]
5 June 2023
The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) passed a judgment on the case against two former leaders of the State Security Service (SDB) of the Republic of Serbia’s Ministry of the Interior – Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović – establishing an international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This judgment […]
22 May 2023
Serbian website Krik.rs, known for the large number of investigative stories and investigative journalism awards, but also as a critic of the government, was sentenced by the High Court in Belgrade for publishing an article listing the lawsuits against its newsroom. These lawsuits, as described by the Council of Europe, are known as Strategic Lawsuits […]
19 May 2023
Author: Goshe Nikolov “Only a genius can kill 9 young persons; he is a genius”. This is a statement from the social network TikTok, written above the photographs of 13-year old K.K. from Serbia, accused for murdering a total of 9 persons – eight students and a school security guard. The video has almost 620.000 […]
11 May 2023
“Promise for you! 5 GB monthly internet will be free for young people,” is a message on one of many billboards on the streets of Istanbul placed by opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu ahead of the Turkish presidential elections scheduled for May 14. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan soon responded. Via TV commercials under the slogan “Continue with […]
11 May 2023
The Western Balkans are notoriously difficult to fathom. The evolving regional map of countries, borders, ethnicities and faiths is so complex that it requires more preparation to cover than other parts of Europe, writes Natalie Sarkic-Todd in The Battleground. Below Meta.mk News Agency republishes the article: It’s not enough to know local politics and institutions. […]
9 April 2023
Unlike the influence of Russia and China in North Macedonia that – to a large extent – is disseminated on the basis of positive identification and desired and/or shared values, we might say that the influence realized by Bulgaria is based on narratives overflowing with rejection, denial, and even animosity, writes Truthmeter.mk. Under the content-sharing […]
