- Escalation of Violence at Protests in Serbia
On 13 August, during the protest action “Serbia, wake up” in several cities in Serbia, clashes occurred between anti-government protesters, mostly young people, on the one hand, and supporters of the authorities and the police on the other.
The protest was declared after, the day before, on 12 August, supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) attacked protesters using pyrotechnics and stones in Bačka Palanka and Vrbas (Vojvodina region).
On 13 August the epicenters of the confrontation were Novi Sad (Vojvodina) and Belgrade, but protests also took place in dozens of other cities in Serbia, including Niš, Čačak, Smederevo, Užice, Pančevo.
In Belgrade several clashes occurred between protesters and police when participants of the protest attempted to approach the headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. Tension was high near the Serbian parliament, where minor skirmishes took place between supporters of the authorities, who had set up a tent camp in central Belgrade, and demonstrators.
In Novi Sad, clashes involving pyrotechnics between protest participants and supporters of the ruling party occurred near the SNS office. The police had to bring in additional forces to contain the situation.
On several occasions at different locations the police used tear gas to disperse demonstrations and batons during the arrests of protesters.
As a result of the unrest dozens of demonstrators and police officers were injured.
Among the injured are also military personnel — fighters of the special-purpose detachment of the military police “Cobras” of the Armed Forces of Serbia, who sustained injuries during clashes near the Serbian Progressive Party office in Novi Sad. One of the officers had to fire a shot into the air to stop the protesters. Footage of a person firing a firearm caused a serious public outcry.
Following the protests of 13 August, the authorities and the protesters accused the other side of attempting to ignite a civil war, which indicates a deepening of the political crisis in the country.
- Western Balkans in Flames
At the beginning of August the region faced large-scale wildfires. Montenegro and Albania were hit the hardest by the fires. Both countries had to call in international assistance, including under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Montenegro
A critical situation developed from 11–13 August, when fires began to spread rapidly in the suburbs of Podgorica and on the coast, between Petrovac and Bar. In areas north of Podgorica several residential houses and outbuildings burned down, local residents were evacuated. Firefighters and military personnel were injured while extinguishing the fires; one serviceman died as a result of an overturned tanker truck.
On 14 August a day of mourning was declared in the country.
The fire on the coast forced the closure of the main roadway between Bar and Budva, and power supplies were cut in some areas.
Albania
In mid-August Albania was engulfed by massive fires that destroyed large areas of agricultural land and forests, including protected zones; private houses, public buildings, and businesses burned, and some areas were evacuated.
The blaze hit the country’s southern and central regions hardest, including tourist centers. These include the regions of Vlorë, Gjirokastër, Berat, Shkodër, Tirana, Korçë and Elbasan, where entire villages were destroyed by the fire, and one man died of asphyxiation.
In both countries citizens criticized the authorities for insufficient preparedness for the fire season, in particular for a lack of firefighting aviation. It is clear that the current crisis will be used by opposition politicians in subsequent political rhetoric.
- In Kosovo the Constitutional Court obliged the parliament to elect a speaker within 30 days
On 8 June the Constitutional Court of Kosovo gave deputies an additional 30 days to elect a speaker and form the parliament.
The Court also ruled that no candidate for the speaker’s post may be nominated more than three times, and obliged deputies to be present in the chamber and to vote for the speaker and his deputies.
After the parliamentary elections in Kosovo, which took place in February 2025, the formation of a new government is in a deadlock because no party obtained a majority of seats in the parliament. The Vetëvendosje (VV) movement, led by acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, secured a clear first place, but failed to obtain a majority of mandates (61). This has led to a prolonged struggle over the election of a speaker.
After four attempts deputies still could not elect a speaker. On 26 June the Constitutional Court ruled that the deadlock must be resolved within 30 days. However, no progress was achieved.
The absence of a functioning parliament and a fully formed government has already led to problems in the economy. First and foremost, access to funds from the EU under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans has been blocked.
- The Central Election Commission of Bosnia removed Milorad Dodik from the office of President of the Republika Srpska
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved the substitution of Milorad Dodik’s one-year imprisonment with a fine. Dodik will pay about 36,500 KM (a little over €18,000).
Meanwhile, on 6 August the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina annulled Milorad Dodik’s mandate as President of the Republika Srpska.
As is known, Dodik was sentenced to one year of imprisonment and six years of prohibition on holding any state offices for disobedience to the decisions of the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Commenting on the CEC BiH decision, Dodik said that he will remain in his post, and that his fate will be decided by the people in a referendum. “The mandate was given to me by the people, so I will hear them in a referendum that will take place in the near future, based on the decision of the National Assembly,” he emphasized.
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Russia conducted an active international campaign in support of Dodik.
Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russian diplomats at the UN spoke out with sharp criticism of the verdict against the leader of the Serbs in BiH.
In particular, the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo said that Dodik’s verdict jeopardizes the existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “For Bosnia and Herzegovina a moment of truth has arrived,” the Russian diplomats stressed, noting that the country stands at a “point of no return”.
On 7 August Moscow initiated urgent consultations of the UN Security Council, where the Russian representative at the UN characterized the verdict against Dodik as a threat to stability.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković called Russia’s steps in support of Dodik “the sharpest and most serious threats” to Bosnia and Herzegovina. “These are not diplomatic statements, but open threats to the state,” Konaković said to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“Moscow is continuously using the political crisis in BiH as a space to expand its influence, especially by supporting the leadership of Republika Srpska and political leaders like Dodik” – the minister stressed. “We know that Russia is not only acting politically. They are ready for espionage activities, cyber attacks, disinformation. We have seen their operations in Moldova, Romania and Georgia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is no exception,” he said.
Representatives of the “Troika,” which includes the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Party of People and Justice and Our Party, on 11 August met with the ambassadors of the Quint (the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy) on the topic of the “open and direct threats from Russia to Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
“This meeting meant that there is an awareness of the importance of monitoring the situation. We are prepared for all scenarios and hope for the best,” said Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister and leader of the Party of People and Justice, Elmedin Konaković, at the conclusion of the meeting.
- In Pristina there were protests against the Specialist Chambers in The Hague
Thousands of citizens took part in a protest in Pristina against the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, where former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) are on trial.
Currently proceedings are under way in the Specialist Chambers against former KLA leaders, among them former President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi, former Speaker of Parliament Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, as well as former member of parliament Rexhep Selimi. They are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The immediate cause of the current protest in Pristina was that the Specialist Chambers recently accepted documents from Serbian institutions as evidence in the cases. In Kosovo veterans, the public and politicians express deep concern about this fact, calling for international reaction.
“It concerns state institutions of Serbia ‘that committed crimes and genocide against the people of Kosovo by their criminal activities,’ and the three heads of those three institutions were convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” the protest organizers said. “Therefore, for us it is unacceptable that today the international community in this case, the Specialist Chambers, accepted this evidence, because this somehow legitimizes these three institutions,” the speakers said during the protest rally.
The protest in Pristina, organized by KLA veterans, was supported by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, the Social Democratic Initiative and some representatives of the Democratic League of Kosovo.
On the other hand, Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje movement said that the protest took place “with a decade-long delay,” since, they say, there should have been protests already at the time the court was established, against the then government.
The Specialist Chambers (Special Court) in The Hague are part of Kosovo’s legal system but are located in the Netherlands and staffed by international personnel.
This institution was created under pressure from the international community, primarily the EU and the United States, which believed that Kosovo’s justice system was insufficiently reliable to handle KLA cases and protect witnesses from intimidation. In August 2015 Kosovo’s parliament adopted constitutional amendments that paved the way for the establishment of the Specialist Chambers. At that time the country was governed by a coalition of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo.
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Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote on Facebook that he “continues to wonder” why Kosovo’s parliament still has not adopted a statement “that would list the factual violations of elementary democratic norms of due legal process by the Hague tribunal, where the rights of Hashim Thaçi and his friends, isolated from the world for years now, have been trampled on like nothing?!”
If Kosovo’s parliament adopted a similar resolution, “we would immediately engage the Albanian Assembly to vote on the same text and convey the voice of all Albanians in every democratic state that sponsors the Tribunal, which should not tolerate any violation, let alone the annihilation of due process with the financial contribution of its taxpayers” Rama wrote.
- Local elections in North Macedonia will be held on 19 October
The President of the Assembly of North Macedonia, Afrim Gashi, set the local elections for 19 October 2025. A second round will be held on 2 November, if necessary.
Mayors and local councilors will be elected in 80 municipalities and the city of Skopje.
Gashi emphasized that the elections should serve as “proof of democratic maturity,” be held in accordance with European standards and confirm the country’s commitment to integration into the EU.
The opposition Albanian party Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) focuses on topics related to past wars. DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army and a commander of the National Liberation Army that fought in Macedonia in the early 2000s, in his recent speeches recalled events 24 years ago in Ljuboten, where on 10–12 August 2001 Macedonian police killed 10 peaceful Albanian civilians.
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia and leader of VMRO-DPMNE (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization — Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity), Hristijan Mickoski, for his part said: “At the local elections I expect a campaign that will be focused on projects, but obviously there is a political party, first and foremost I mean the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), which instead of talking about projects for the future drags us back 20–25–30 years and imposes such topics”.
