Southeast Europe

It is just yet another one in years of continuous elections...

Born and raised in Thessaloniki, he moved through what is now Macedonia and Bulgaria to ultimately found modern Turkey. The emancipation of modernisation and nation-state building, Erdogan is now desperately trying to reverse his heritage without being able to even admit it publicly. This is the one person that had disproportional role in shaping the region in the 20th century.

They arrested him in Slovenia

Police are searching for a man suspected of killing his pregnant partner and seriously wounding her sister in a Roma community near Mursko Središće on Thursday night.

Doctors at Čakovec Hospital say the wounded young woman remains in critical condition.

Authorities have launched a cross-border manhunt after the suspect’s vehicle was found in Slovenia, Međimurje Police Chief Ivan Sokač confirmed. The suspect, 40-year-old Josip Oršuš, has a long criminal record, and police have released his photo to the public. Both Croatia and Slovenia have issued arrest warrants, warning that he is armed and dangerous.

Right now it might seem that protests in Bulgaria succeeded, but this "compromise" means just that we're continuing to get more of the same...

Mass demonstrations against Budget 2026 drew large crowds in several major Bulgarian cities, with thousands taking to the streets to demand the withdrawal of the draft financial plan.

The crowd held signs reading We do not want a budget without reforms, Weak 2 (F grade) for communication, reforms and vision, We will not let them lie to us, and messages directed against Delyan Peevski.

The article does not report on the violence in the night when masked young men dressed in black vandalised buildings. The opposition and the nation's president have called them paid provocators.

Large gatherings were also reported in Varna and Plovdiv... Messages on posters included "We are tired of lies and promises", "Weak 2 for communication, reforms and vision", "The face of corruption accompanied by a picture of Delyan Peevski", and "Return the budget from scratch. You have 3 weeks."

Novak Stjepanovic was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Serbia for war crimes in Bosnia in 1992, but he had already skipped the country to join Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, a BIRN investigation finds.

No doubt this is thanks to:

• Bulgaria being part of the EU - in Turkey, the mayor of Istanbul is still in prison

• Kotsev being part of a party that in turn is member of the big parties in the europarliament - the ex-mayor of a district in Sofia spent years in jail without getting any political support, from Bulgaria or outside.

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Thousands of people on Sunday joined protest marches in Croatia against a surging far right following a spate of incidents that have fueled both ethnic and political tensions in the European Union country.

Gatherings dubbed “United against fascism” were organized in four major cities, including the capital, Zagreb. The crowd chanted “we are all antifascists!” as they pledged to counter what they described as a bid by right-wing groups to spread fear and silence opponents.

There are also counter-protests:

Groups of young men wearing black clothes showed up in counter-gatherings in the northwestern port of Rijeka and the central coastal town of Zadar, according the Index news portal, which published photos. The same source said minor scuffles occurred with police and that one person was detained.

The government made a step back. But can participating parties afford it, given that the ruling coalition is very weak? It's members know that staying together is bad for their future perspectives. Yet, they are desperately holding on in an attempt to get most out of the moment. Not a winning formula.

Christianity only makes sense as a role model of unity. If church leaders maintain divisions, they cannot claim legitimacy. But it is not these two leaders that feed on conflict.

Zagreb’s Vjesnik building will have to be torn down, structural experts have concluded. After days of inspections and analysis, engineers determined that the fire-damaged tower is unsafe and at risk of collapse, recommending that demolition begin as soon as possible.

A young person has been arrested in connection with a fire which destroyed Vjesnik Tower in the Croatian capital, Zagreb Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.

A major fire broke out late on Monday at the Vjesnik building on Slavonska Avenue in Zagreb, with flames rapidly spreading up the façade and reaching several upper floors, including the roof.

The public prosecutor's office in Milan has opened an investigation into claims that Italian citizens travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina on "sniper safaris" during the war in the early 1990s.

Italians and others are alleged to have paid large sums to shoot at civilians in the besieged city of Sarajevo.

Moldova did not respond to the request for more information. Apparently they see the previously leaked information as sufficient to start an investigation.

With heavy police security, but without incident, a protest by the Torcida fan group and the coordination of veterans' associations was held on Split's waterfront over the arrest of nine people who disrupted the Days of Serbian Culture in Split.

The European Commission Wednesday presented a proposal for high-speed rail to improve cross-border and long-distance train travel across Europe by 2040. The new High-Speed Rail Action Plan includes the railway line between Sofia and Athens, with travel times expected to take 6 hours instead of 13 hours and 40 minutes.

The Plan also envisages high-speed travel on the following railway lines: Budapest-Bucharest, Berlin-Copenhagen, Berlin-Vienna-Prague, Paris-Madrid-Lisbon, Munich-Rome, and the lines between Baltic countries.

The aim is to develop lines capable of reaching speeds of at least 200 km/h. The Commission's proposal also includes improving ticket purchasing options and the sale of second-hand rolling stock.

A contentious problem is how the line would traverse the Kresna gorge. The construction of the motorway was delayed with decades because of environmental, archeological and local community concerns.

The 16th edition of the Balkans Beyond Borders Short Film Festival celebrates the spirit of collaboration and regional connectivity through the BBB Cross-Border Screening, taking place on Thursday, 6th of November 2025 ,the opening day of the festival.

This year, the BBB Cross-Border Screening which is a simultaneous screening in many cities, will unite audiences from Timișoara (Romania), Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), Tirana (Albania), Bitola and Struga (North Macedonia), Pescara (Italy), Prizren (Kosovo), Kalamata and Kozani (Greece), Bajina Bašta and Belgrade (Serbia) and , Istanbul (Turkey), the festival’s host city, creating a shared cinematic experience that transcends borders and time zones.

The festival continues throughout the weekend. More details in the festival program

About 50 young men disrupted a Serbian cultural event in Split on Monday evening, demanding that participants and guests leave.

Witnesses said the group, masked and dressed in black, approached the Blatina District Council building and told people to exit. Police said there was no physical violence, although offensive language can be heard in recordings. Organizers and participants complied. The event featured a folklore dance performance by a group from Novi Sad and was part of Serbian Culture Week.

not news really, but a proof of the scale of change:

It was undoubtedly the largest gathering in the history of Novi Sad and another massive rally that brought together citizens from across Serbia at the call of the students

Many others across the region are trying to negotiate their way out of sanctions imposed for criminal activities, or overstepping human rights and international agreements. Not unrelated, the US is quickly loosing its influence in Europe.

The region has been tightly controlled by Turkey, but this often goes against the interests of its population. The current elections serve as a reminder.

"Since I see that in Croatia they keep spreading the story about becoming owners, I just have to tell them, and if there are any Russians thinking about this too, let me inform them, nothing of the sort will happen. Just keep that in mind," Vucic said in an interview for the private broadcaster Informer TV

Over the weekend, Vucic announced that if no solution is reached this week in talks with the Russian and American sides regarding NIS, Serbia will take "independent action". He did not specify what he meant by that.

NIS operates Serbia’s only oil refinery, located in Pancevo near Belgrade. The facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tonnes and meets most of the country’s needs. The Serbian state holds a 29.9% stake in NIS, while Gazprom Neft remains the majority shareholder with 44.9%. In late September, the St Petersburg-based company Intelligence, linked to Gazprom, acquired an additional 11.3% stake

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia’s parliament on Friday voted to reintroduce compulsory military service in the European Union and NATO member country.

The move comes amid heightened tensions in Europe following the Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as an apparent arms race and military buildup in the Balkans, which went through a bloody war in the 1990s.

A 29-year-old Croatian man has been arrested in an international police operation for allegedly running a global child exploitation ring, authorities confirmed on Friday.

Investigators say the suspect contacted at least 30 victims online and is also suspected of abusing a young girl over an extended period. Police allege he distributed child sexual abuse material to a network of roughly 250 people on encrypted online platforms, according to Interior Minister Davor Božinović.