- The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina cancelled the arrest warrant for the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik
The decision was made after he agreed to voluntarily show up for questioning accompanied by his defense attorney.
According to the Prosecutor’s office, the suspect went to Сourt voluntarily with a defense lawyer. He was questioned by the Prosecutor, a record of the interrogation was documented, and thus the conditions for mitigating the preventive measure of detention in custody were met.
The detention was ordered just because the suspect was unreachable to state authorities, the Court noted. As a result, the Court decided to accept the Prosecutor’s proposal and cancel Dodik’s detention, considering that “the grounds for his detention no longer exist.”
Instead, it was proposed to issue a protective order, which would oblige the suspect to report to the police station every two weeks.
“The suspect was specifically warned that he could be taken into custody if he violates the obligations of the protective order,” the joint statement of the B&H Court and Prosecutor’s Office stated.
Dodik explained that, he, when trying to find a solution, decided to voluntarily appear before the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when trying to find a solution, and testify in the constitutional order case. He claimed that this decision was exclusively politically motivated. “The trial was politically motivated, the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not provided for by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so my visit there was exclusively politically motivated,” the RS President said.
As reported, on February 26, 2025, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Milorad Dodik to one year in prison for failing to comply with the decisions of the High Representative of the International Community, Christian Schmidt. In March, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an arrest warrant for the President of the Republika Srpska, as well as the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, and the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, Nenad Stevandić. Dodik, Višković, and Stevandić were suspected of committing an attack on the BiH’s constitutional order.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, described the Court and Prosecutor’s Office decision concerning Dodik as an “unprecedented scandal”.
“What is terrible in this story is that he came to a scheduled hearing, which someone organized and prepared. He came without pomp and without an escort, he knew the outcome in advance,” Konaković wrote on the social network X. “This shows that Dodik still controls part of the judiciary, when he was allowed to avoid detention in this way,” he noted. “He had collaborators and allies. We will fight to the death to expose both collaborators and allies,” he said, adding that special attention would be paid to Bosniaks those in the judiciary who helped Dodik.
- Kosovo’s political crisis could end with new elections
Kosovo has not formed new institutions even five months after the parliamentary elections held on February 9. The parties in parliament cannot agree on the election of the parliament’s governing bodies, respectively, the parliament cannot begin its work, which, in turn, makes it impossible to form a government.
A constituent meeting of Kosovo’s parliament failed for the 43rd time in a row. The proposal of the Self-Determination Movement of Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti to hold a secret ballot to elect the speaker of parliament was again rejected by opposition parties. The opposition refused to nominate candidates for the commission needed to oversee the secret ballot.
Since April 15, the deputies elected on February 9 have been meeting every two days, but they have still not managed to start the work of the parliament. The Self-Determination Movement, as the winning party in the elections, nominated Albulena Haxhiu for the position of speaker, but she did not receive the required majority of votes. Later, it was proposed to change the voting method from public to secret, but there is no agreement on this issue either.
The political crisis in Kosovo continues. Political parties and analysts have different opinions on possible solutions to unblock the work of government institutions. However, they are not excluded the possibility of new elections if it is impossible to reach an agreement in parliament.
On June 26, the Constitutional Court issued a decision that obliges deputies to form governing bodies and start the work of parliament by July 26, but the Court did not specify whether the failure will lead to early elections.
- Pristina to construct two new bridges over Ibar River
Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti has laid the symbolic first stones for the construction of two bridges over the Ibar River. The new constructions are to connect North and South Mitrovica, municipalities with Serb and Albanian populations in northern Kosovo.
The new bridges will be located on either side of the so-called “main bridge” over the Ibar, which was fully reconstructed with the European Union several years ago but it has remained closed, largely due tocontinued opposition from the local Serb population.
The opening of the new bridges is intended to demonstrate Pristina’s commitment to “ensuring the closest possible communication, movement, cooperation and exchange between the north and the south.” “All citizens will benefit from this,” Kurti said.
Kurti also emphasized that the main bridge over the Ibar River would also be opened, as the time for barricades was over.
The new bridges over the Ibar are expected to be opened by the fall. One of them will accommodate both vehicles and pedestrians, and the other for pedestrian use only. Estimated cost is €3 million.
In response to Pristina’s initiative, the Serbian List party launched a petition against the construction of new bridges over the Ibar River. “We support the petition because in this way we want to show that we are against imposing decisions and that we have a single position on this issue,” said the head of the Serbian List, Zlatan Elek. According to him, the construction of the bridges is an attempt to persecute the Serbian people. “This is a bridge of division, not a bridge of unity,” Elek said.
The collection of signatures for the petition titled “Against the Construction of Kurti Bridges” was officially launched on July 7 in front of the Serbian List office in North Mitrovica.
The beginning of the active phase of bridge construction may lead to another escalation of the situation in northern Kosovo, observers claim.
- The Albanian Parliament has approved the National Strategy for Combating Malicious Foreign Interference and Disinformation
Here are four main points of the document:
• build institutional capacity to prevent foreign interference in election campaigns;
• protect national security from such interference through stronger alliances with NATO, the EU, allies;
• shield the economy and critical sectors from hostile foreign financing;
• uphold freedom of expression and media by supporting investigative journalism in uncovering these phenomena.
The Strategy, along with the Action Plan, was developed by the Special Commission on Combating Disinformation, headed by Erjon Braçe, a member of parliament from the ruling Socialist Party.
The opposition did not support the Strategy and the work of the Special Commission, claiming that the document masks an agenda to curb media freedom and broader expression in general. Opposition MPs left the meeting room at the time of the vote, protesting against the adoption process and the text of the document.
The document is not a repressive measure, but a necessity to protect the public space from malicious foreign interference and systematic disinformation campaigns aimed at institutional destabilization, Brace stressed in the parliament, while presenting the Strategy.
“The National Strategy is the first comprehensive document in Albania that directly addresses the phenomenon of information manipulation for the purpose of malicious foreign interference. It aims to define a single platform for action that includes the main goals, priorities and measures to protect the state, society and citizens from malicious foreign interference, including disinformation,” he said.
Brace stressed that the work on the Strategy was carried out in close cooperation with civil society organizations, the media and independent experts, which ensured a comprehensive and transparent approach.
This is a new stage in the formation of the country’s democratic immunity, he said. “We are all witnesses to the fact that threats to modern democracies no longer manifest themselves in classical forms. Disinformation, manipulation of public information, penetration of foreign interests into electoral processes or critical sectors of the national economy have become effective means of political and strategic influence, without resorting to direct forms of violence or military aggression,” Brace said.
Brace also stressed that the document was necessary to strengthen national security after the cyberattacks against Albania in recent years, as well as due to the obligation to meet the standards of the European Union and other international partners. “Events have shown that Albania has become a constant target of foreign interference and disinformation, therefore there is a need for preventive measures, also with the participation of European partners,” he said.
The implementation of the Action Plan by the Council of Ministers will again be overseen by a parliamentary special committe, he added.
- Skopje hosts European Growth Plan Summit for the Western Balkans
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Cos and leaders of the six Western Balkan countries (WB6), Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, gathered in Skopje for a high-level meeting on the European Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. The summit took place from 30 June to 1 July.
Following the meeting, the European Commission said that Western Balkan leaders had confirmed their determination to seize the opportunities of the Growth Plan for the region.
“After a year of advancing reforms and intensive cooperation in areas such as finance, transport, digital connectivity and market integration, Commissioner Marta Cos and the leaders took stock of the progress made to date. They also confirmed their determination to meet regularly to maintain the political momentum behind the Plan. The leaders intend to meet again this autumn,” said the European Commission in a statement.”
As part of the Growth Plan, the six Western Balkan countries are committed to implementing Reform Programmes, supported by €6 billion in financial assistance from the EU.
So far, advance payments under the Growth Plan have been made to North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. The European Commission welcomed Bosnia and Herzegovina’s adoption of the Reform Agenda on 27 June and urge Kosovo to accelerate the approval of necessary agreements to unlock advance funding,” the European Commission stated.
“The key reforms are not easy to implement. They highlight its connection to deep-seated power structures and requiring a fundamental societal transformation. You, the leadership, must lead these changes. The benefits are numerous, bringing stability, security and prosperity to all your citizens. The Growth Plan is entirely in your hands, with no politics. This is a tool that will help you with important reforms, and these reforms are necessary to prepare you for membership,” Marta Kos emphasized in her opening remarks at the summit.
No landmark decisions were made at the summit, but participants discussed important practical aspects of closer integration of the region and the EU. In particular, this is the possibility of launching free roaming for the regional countries from 1 January 2026 (extending the EU’s “roam like home” area to the Western Balkans), the deployment of broadband Internet access in public buildings, urban public spaces and rural areas, and the integration of payment systems.
The next meeting on the Growth Plan will be held in Tirana, Albania.
