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☆ Montenegro court jails 'cryptocurrency king' Do Kwon for four months -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A South Korean national, Kwon is the former CEO of South Korea-based Terraform Labs, the company behind the stablecoin TerraUSD that collapsed in May 2022, roiling cryptocurrency markets. Police said after arresting them they had found doctored Costa Rican passports, a separate set of Belgian passports, laptop computers and other devices in their luggage. The sentence follows a court hearing last week at which Do Kwon dropped his request for checking authenticity of the Costa Rican passports after Interpol's confirmation they were fake. South Korean and U.S. authorities have sought the extradition of Kwon and Han and the handover of the computers. Following Kwon's arrest, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan made public an eight-count indictment against him for securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy.

Persons: Do Kwon, Kwon, Han Chang, joon, Han, Daria Sito, Gareth Jones, Jason Neely Organizations: Korean, Labs, Police, Costa, U.S, Thomson Locations: SARAJEVO, Montenegro, U.S, South Korea, Dubai, Podgorica, Montenegro's, Rican, Costa Rican, Manhattan

☆ Western Balkans states discuss how to improve migration governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JAHORINA MOUNTAIN, Bosnia June 8 (Reuters) - Security and migration officials from six Western Balkans countries, all of which aspire to join the European Union, on Thursday pledged to work together with the EU and United Nations agencies to improve sustainable migration governance. "When it comes to the migrant crisis, we from the Western Balkans face not only humanitarian challenges but also security and political challenges," said Bosnia's Security Minister Nenad Nesic, who hosted the meeting at a mountain resort near the capital Sarajevo. "Trends in migration are very dynamic and the Western Balkans is a major transitory route," Ugochi Florence Daniels, the IOM Deputy Director General for Operations, told Reuters. "The action plan is an opportunity to deal with the immediate issues - trafficking and smuggling and sustainable returns," Daniels said. "It is also an opportunity to look at the longer-term opportunities that migration is bringing - remittances to the Western Balkans are $10 billion or 10% of GDP - that is a significant contribution to development," she added.

Persons: Nenad Nesic, Oliver Spasovski, Ugochi Florence Daniels, Daniels, Daria Sito, Angus MacSwan Organizations: European Union, EU, United Nations, Bosnia's, International Organisation for Migration, Operations, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bosnia, Balkans, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, East, Afghanistan, Asia, Africa, Sarajevo, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia's

[1/2] An Italian member of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) looks on while standing guard in Leposavic, Kosovo, June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen TeofilovskiBULBOACA, Moldova, June 1 (Reuters) - The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo insisted on Thursday they want to defuse a violent crisis in northern Kosovo but showed little sign of backing down from their opposing positions. Violence flared on Monday after Kosovo authorities, backed by special police units, installed ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in northern municipalities. But he said Kosovo authorities should withdraw "alleged mayors" from the north and declared the Kosovo special police units were there illegally. Vucic said he did not even know who was coming to the summit from Kosovo.

Persons: Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, Vjosa Osmani, Osmani, Vucic, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Albin Kurti, Macron, Scholz, Jens Stoltenberg, Andrew Gray, Fatos Bytyci, Ivana Sekularac, Sabine Siebold, John Irish, Daria Sito, Edmund Blair Organizations: NATO, Kosovo Force, REUTERS, Kosovo, European, Political, Thomson Locations: Italian, Leposavic, Kosovo, BULBOACA, Moldova, Serbia, Belgrade, Moldovan, European Union, United States, Oslo

Violence flared on Monday after Kosovo authorities, backed by special police units, installed ethnic Albanian mayors in offices in northern municipalities. Speaking after the meeting with Vucic, Osmani accused the Serbian leader of "whining and complaining and ... not telling the truth". But she said Kosovo could hold new elections in the north with Serb participation if they were triggered legally. Earlier in the day, neither leader had expressed any desire to meet with the other, before relenting under international pressure. Vucic said Kosovo authorities should withdraw "alleged mayors" from the north and declared the Kosovo special police units were there illegally.

Persons: Vjosa, Aleksandar Vucic, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Vucic, Osmani, Macron, Scholz, Mimi, Vladislav Culiomza Macron, Albin Kurti, Jens Stoltenberg, Fatos Bytyci, Ivana Sekularac, Sabine Siebold, Tassilo Hummel, Daria Sito, Edmund Blair, Daniel Wallis Organizations: EU, Kosovo, NATO, Political, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: BULBOACA, Moldova, Kosovo, Serbia, France, Germany, United States, Serbian, Belgrade, Paris, Berlin, Bulboaca, Oslo

☆ Plane crashes in Croatia, rescuers search for crew
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SARAJEVO, May 20 (Reuters) - Rescuers found the remains of a light aircraft that crashed on Saturday in the mountainous region of the northwestern Croatia but could not confirm if any crew members were found, the HINA state news agency reported. The search for the "Cirrus 20" aircraft that went off radar after noon during a flight from the Slovenian town of Maribor to the Adriatic city of Pula was conducted by a 120-strong rescue team in the forests of Lika-Senj. Army helicopters and drones were sent to search the area suspected of being mined during the war of the 1990s, local media reported. Rescuers said they did not know how many persons were on board of the Dutch-registered aircraft. Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hobbit houses spring up in Bosnia hills
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KRESEVO, Bosnia, May 11 (Reuters) - Four sisters are building the first Hobbit-style village in southeast Europe in the green hills of central Bosnia, hoping to attract fans of "The Lord of the Rings" books and movies as well as sharing their childhood memories. Last year Marija, a 28-year-old geology engineer, proposed to her sisters Milijana, Vedrana and Valentina that they build house in the style of the Hobbit homes in J.R.R. The sisters decided that their houses must include characteristics of the area where they live and that each sister would decorate one dwelling as she likes. [1/5] Milijana Milicevic stands in front of the hobbit house named "Lipa", in the Bosnian Hobbiton village, Rakova Noga, Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 9, 2023. The other three houses, which should be completed soon, will also be named after local attractions.

☆ Croatia clears mystery clumps of oil from beaches before tourists arrive
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Antonio Bronic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

No official explanation has been given for the pollution, which has stuck, in small patches, to the rocks and wild limestone beaches near the town of Pula. This is not the first time oil had drifted ashore in the area, she said, and people deserve to know the cause. "We cannot just wait and fear each year that wind will bring us a new oil spill," Buttignoni told Reuters. "There will be a problem because this (oil) constantly keeps coming though in smaller quantities," said villager Giuliano. "There will be a problem with tourism, when guests arrive and probably step on it.

☆ Bosnia Serb leader Dodik threatens to declare indepdendence
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE, April 14 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Friday told his ally Serbia he was seriously considering declaring the autonomous Serb Republic independent from the rest of Bosnia unless a row over a property law is resolved. Dodik's hardline Serb nationalism and pro-Russian stance have raised concern that Bosnia might fracture again along ethnic lines, a generation after its devastating war. According to constitution, the national parliament must adopt a property law that would be valid across Bosnia, but Dodik, who is president of the Serb Republic, says that deprives the Serb region in Bosnia of the right to its land, rivers and forests. During his 25 years in power either as the region's president or premier, Dodik has acted to strengthen the autonomy of the Serb region. Last month, Dodik ordered that Serb officials should halt all contacts and communication with US and UK ambassadors in Bosnia, after they had criticised his inflammatory rhetoric.

☆ EU extends $647 mln grant for Serbia's fast railway line
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BELGRADE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The European Union on Tuesday extended a 610 million euro ($647.15 million) grant to Serbia for the construction of a fast railway line that will connect southern Serbia with central Europe. The 208-kilometre line should connect the Serbian capital Belgrade with the southern town of Nis. President Aleksandar Vucic said the EU grant was the largest ever given to Serbia, which has received a total of 420 million euros in EU grants so far. "The EU is now giving us 610 million euros as a gift," said Vucic, adding that the new railway line will enable travellers from Nis to get to Budapest in less than five hours. Vucic said Serbia would provide 525 million euros for the project and would take out loans of 1.1 billion euros and 550 million euros with the EIB and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development respectively.

☆ Montenegro's long-ruling Djukanovic launches bid for third presidential term
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro's incumbent president who has held high-ranking political posts in the Adriatic country for the last 30 years, launched his bid on Saturday to run for a third term in a presidential election next month. The office of president is largely ceremonial in Montenegro, but a Djukanovic victory could trigger an early parliamentary election after the presidential vote because he has so far rejected proposed candidates for the prime minister's job. "I am entering the election race with the intention to win quickly and convincingly," Djukanovic, who heads the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), said on Saturday as he submitted his bid with electoral authorities. Opponents accuse Djukanovic and the DPS of corruption, links to organised crime and of running the country of some 620,000 people as their personal fiefdom - charges Djukanovic and his party deny. The state election commission has already approved two other presidential candidates - Andrija Mandic from the ethnic Serb party New Serb Democracy and Draginja Vuksanovic Stankovic of the Social Democratic Party.

☆ Chinese consortium seals highway deal with Bosnia's Serb Republic
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SARAJEVO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A consortium of Chinese companies and the government of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic on Thursday sealed a 350 million marka ($190.5 million) loan deal for the construction of a section of a northern highway connecting the region with Serbia. China Overseas Engineering Group Co Ltd. and China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co Ltd., with help of the China Construction Bank, will plan, build and finance the 17-kilometre-long Brcko-Bijeljina section, Serb Republic Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic said at the signing ceremony. The Serb Republic wants to build a modern highway connecting most of its territory with Serbia, its political ally and largest trade partner. It turned to Chinese investors after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) declined to support the project, which it said was not vital. In August, the regional government signed a 650 million marka deal with China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd. (601668.SS) to build a 33-kilometre-long section of the same highway in northern Bosnia.

☆ Croatian restaurant offers one pot menu cooked by robotic chef
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Antonio Bronic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] View of a meal that the robot chef prepared at the restaurant Bots & Pots in Zagreb, Croatia, February 9, 2023. You can order any of them at a Croatian restaurant where a robotic chef is able to rustle up about 70 different one pot meals. The devices add oil and seasoning according to digital recipes made by a human chef. The robotic chef called GammaChef is "taught" digitally how to cook a meal by the restaurant's head chef, then remembers it and repeats it endlessly. "Our final goal is to create a 'no waiter, no chef, no cash' space where you order, get and pay for food without human contact."

☆ Snow and winter storms cut power, disrupt traffic across the Balkans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SARAJEVO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Gale-force winds and snow storms closed roads and left more than 25,000 households in Serbia without power on Sunday, while fallen trees disrupted traffic in neighbouring Croatia and Montenegro. In Croatia, a red alert was issued for the regions along the Adriatic coast due to north winds estimated to reach 130 km per hour. More than 250 km of local roads in mountainous southeastern Serbia were closed due to snowdrifts reaching two metres, local media reported. Bosnian authorities banned the use of heavy lorries in mountainous regions due to snowdrifts and icy roads. Meteorologists have announced freezing temperatures and snow storms across the Balkans will continue in the days to come.

☆ Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine - Croatian president
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, will never again be part of Ukraine, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Monday in remarks detailing his objection to Zagreb providing military aid to Kyiv. read moreA vocal critic of Western policy in Ukraine, Milanovic has said he does not want his country, the EU's newest member state, to face what he has called potentially disastrous consequences over the 11-month-old war in Ukraine. He added that the arrival of German tanks in Ukraine would only serve to drive Russia closer to China. "It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine," Milanovic added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to restore Ukrainian rule over Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014 in a move not recognised by most other countries.

☆ Bosnian Serbs celebrate holiday banned by court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] Members of Special police march during parade celebrations to mark their autonomous Serb Republic's national holiday, banned by the constitutional court, in East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, January 9, 2023. Fourteen war veterans' organisations filed criminal charges on Monday at a Sarajevo court against the Serb Republic leadership over violations of the constitutional court's ruling. Last week, Sarajevo war veterans announced protests against the holiday's celebration, but the police banned the gatherings saying it would step up their presence at the city borders. His role is not recognised by Serb Republic separatist President Milorad Dodik. Dodik, who addressed the parade and joined a ceremony in Banja Luka on Sunday, said no court would rule when Serbs celebrate their holidays, and said Serbs did not want to live in a multi-ethnic state.

☆ NATO declines Serbia's request to deploy its troops in Kosovo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Serbia's former province of Kosovo declared independence in 2008 following the 1998-1999 war during which NATO bombed rump-Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo. Last month, for the first time since the end of the war, Serbia requested to deploy troops in Kosovo in response to clashes between Kosovo authorities and Serbs in the northern region where they constitute a majority. Kosovo authorities condemned the incident, which has inflamed tensions. Goran Rakic, the head of the Serb List, which is the main Serb party in Kosovo, accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of trying to drive out Serbs. International organisations condemned the attacks, expected to deepen mistrust between majority ethnic Albanians and around 100,000 ethnic Serbs that live in Kosovo.

☆ Croatia, heading to enter euro zone, adopts first budget in euros
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Croatia, which will enter the euro zone on Jan. 1, passed its first budget in euros on Tuesday, targeting a general deficit of 2.3% of gross domestic product based on the projection of 0.7% economic growth for 2023. The budget was adopted with 77 votes in favour and 50 against in the 151-seat parliament. "This is Croatia's first budget denominated in the euro," Finance Minister Marko Primorac said as he presented the budgetary plans. The total budget revenue is forecast at 24.9 billion euros ($25.86 billion), up 9% from this year and fuelled primarily by direct and indirect taxes projected at 13.3 billion euros. Expenditures are set at 26.7 billion euros, up 2.1 billion euros from this year, due to an increase in government social and development programmes.

☆ Every World Cup 2022 squad announced: USMNT, Germany, Belgium and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

CNN —‘Tis the season for wall charts and fans gathering around to pick their starting teams for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. “It’s always difficult when a guy helps you get to the World Cup, he scores three goals in World Cup qualifying and isn’t going to be a part of the program. Again, it’s more about who we did add that we felt good about.”All but one of the 26 will be making their World Cup debut at this year’s tournament and, according to the USMNT, it will be the youngest team to qualify for the World Cup. Octavio Passos/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesGhanaManager: Otto AddoThe final squad has not been announced yet. READ: Meet Otto Addo, the coach responsible for guiding some of Europe’s brightest young talents (2021)—–PortugalManager: Fernando SantosThe final squad has not been announced yet.

☆ Croatia's Dalic mixes youth and experience in bid for World Cup success
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Croatia finished top of their Nations League group ahead of world champions France and Denmark, and the 2018 runners-up will be riding a wave of momentum heading into the tournament. "However, there are other national teams that have such ambitions, the most important is the first match with Morocco. "The team from Russia was second in the world, and when you look at where those players played, they were all top clubs. One player was from the Croatian league, and now there are seven or eight of them. Luck is that young players have older players alongside them to mature...

☆ Croatia's Fortenova says it was not notified of Sberbank's stake sale - media
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SARAJEVO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Croatian food producer and retailer Fortenova Grupa said it had not been officially notified of a deal that Russian state bank Sberbank Rossii PAO (SBER.MM) reached to sell its 43% stake in the company, local media reported on Thursday. In a brief statement on Wednesday, Sberbank said the stake had been bought by Saif Bin Markhan Alketbi, an investor from the United Arab Emirates. Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ World Bank sees Western Balkans economy growing 3.4% in'22, 2.8% in '23
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"While growth in the first half of 2022 proved to be relatively robust, it is clear that the region is now heading into another storm," said Sanja Madzarevic-Sujster, the World Bank Senior Economist. Higher energy and food prices have pushed inflation to levels unseen for many years, eroding purchasing power and business confidence. Food inflation reached as much as 25% in Bosnia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, the report said. Also, the labour market is beginning to cool, with employment slowing amid the high inflation and increased uncertainty. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Election commission confirms preliminary results of Bosnia general vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Bosnia's election commission (CIK) confirmed preliminary results of Oct. 2 presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, showing the dominance of nationalist parties in parliaments at various levels of the Balkan country's governance. Bosnia remains a dysfunctional and unstable state almost three decades since the devastating conflict between its Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks as former Socialist Yugoslavia collapsed. The opposition parties that had accused him of rigging the vote have held two big rallies in Banja Luka after the vote. They asked the CIK to repeat the election in the Serb Republic but the commission rejected their request. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amnesty urges dropping of defamation charges against Bosnia environment activists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SARAJEVO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Amnesty International has urged a Belgian-owned hydro-power company to drop defamation charges against young Bosnian activists who publicly criticised the environmental impact of their projects in Bosnia, saying they were baseless. Kovacevic and Tusevljak are part of a larger movement in Bosnia protesting against small hydro-power plants as authorities embrace the technology in an effort to replace aging coal-fired power stations. Activists were successful in getting legislation to ban the construction of small hydro-power plants through the country's Bosniak-Croat Federation parliament last July. The Serb Republic, the other Bosnian region where East Sarajevo is located, also passed legislation in February limiting the size of future small hydro-power plants. "People of Bosnia-Herzegovina have the right to oppose to small hydro-power plants but you cannot attack existing permits," Green Invest's Delacroix said.

☆ Bosnian woman marks 100th birthday by staging her own art exhibition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Daria Sito-Sucic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nada Rudan, a 100-year-old self-taught Bosnian painter, speaks with a journalist during an interview in her home in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 20, 2022. "I don't know what boredom means, I don't know what depression means, I always find something to do," she says. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterHer independent spirit, good health and love of travel help. After her husband died in 1999, Rudan visited the United States, central America and numerous European countries, and those journeys inspired many of her paintings, such as a volcano in Hawaii or pyramids in Mexico. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bosnian Serb pro-Russian leader renews secession threat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BELGRADE, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik renewed his secession threat on Monday, a week after the general election in the ethnically-divided country showed his party remained dominant among the Serbs. Pro-Russian Dodik triggered the gravest political crisis in the postwar Bosnia last December when he tried to pull the Serb Republic out of key state institutions, such as judiciary, tax system and a joint armed forces. Under the Dayton peace agreement that ended its 1992-1995 war, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Croats and Bosniaks - linked by a weak national government. They held protests in the region's de facto capital Banja Luka, attended by thousands of supporters. read moreBosnia's election commission said it would look into all recount requests after final election results due in early November.

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