From politics to the media business, high expectations often go hand-in-hand with disappointments big and small, as our selection of Balkan Insight Premium stories this week shows.

A court in North Macedonia issued life sentences to four defendants for the killing of a teenage girl and a retired barber who were kidnapped in an attempt to secure a ransom in 2023.

Serbia sent record amounts of arms to Israel last year. But President Aleksandar Vucic said that since Israel attacked Iran, such exports have been stopped. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and ...

Forest fire on Chios island, Greece, 22 June 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/KOSTAS KOURGIAS. Greek Holiday Islands Caught in Wildfires Eleni Stamatoukou Athens BIRN June 23, 202512:03 Eleni Stamatoukou ...

Our selection of Premium stories this week takes a look at the region’s slow-burning political crises, smuggling networks, digital surveillance and a whole lot more.

President Nicusor Dan on Friday designated Ilie Bolojan, leader of the National Liberal Party, PNL, as Romania’s next prime minister. The announcement ended nearly a month of negotiations ...

A partly ripped electoral poster of right-wing AUR party leader George Simion, covered with a sticker that reads 'Death to Fascism!'. Photo: EPA-EFE/ROBERT GHEMENT. Romania Moves to Confront ...

As authorities mull whether to renovate or sell a once famous children’s mountain resort – now fallin into ruin – investors lie in wait. A message, “We will come again”, along with the ...

Months of reports published by Balkan Insight about the student-led protest movement in Serbia have been compiled into a new e-book for free download. Photo Illustration: BIRN/Igor Vujcic. BIRN on ...

Download this e-book collection of Balkan Insight’s reports telling the story of the mass protest movement in Serbia from November 2024 to May 2025.

A move to turn the site of the former Spac labour camp in northern Albania into a film set has revived calls for better protection of what’s left of Albania’s dark communist past.

Big Brother Fears over Chinese Security Software in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska Natasa Miljanovic Zubac Banja Luka BIRN June 18, 202508:05 Natasa Miljanovic Zubac Banja Luka BIRN June 18, 202508:05 ...