Compiled by Hristo Voynov and Eva Jovanova
1. Slovakian businessman Marian Kočner has been charged with ordering the killing of investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, after over a year of the police investigating the murder. He was one of the first suspects because he had threatened Kuciak months before the murder. While this is a positive development, the case has shown many issues within Slovakian society, such as the government surveillance of journalists for no apparent reason. While Kočner is likely behind the murder, it appears that multiple other people were complicit at one stage or another and who must face justice too.
2. Croatia might be implicated in hybrid warfare in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The allegations say that Croatian intelligence has been inciting terrorism in Bosnia. A Sarajevo media outlet claimed that Croatian diplomats in Bosnia together with Croatian intelligence collaborated with the radical Salafi Muslims in Bosnia. The Bosnian Security Minister, Dragan Mektic, has confirmed the accusations that Croatia was a part of a failed plan to plant explosives in Bosnian mosques to discredit the country as a “land of radical Islamic terrorism.” The allegations also involve the Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who is accused of trying to provide evidence for her statements that Bosnia is a “hotbed of terrorism” and home to at least “10.000 radicalized persons”. If proven right, this will be the greatest scandal between the two countries ever since the Yugoslav wars.
3. Manfred Weber, the head of the European Peoples Party (EPP), went to Budapest to discuss EPP membership with Viktor Orban on behalf of the ruling FIDESZ party. FIDESZ appears to be on its way out because of consistent attacks against the EU over migration, and though Orban doesn’t want to leave the EPP, he does not seem to be willing to budge on the issues that have caused the most discord between the two. Orban has apologized for the rhetoric used, but not for the claims that he is making, which are what the EPP has taken offense to. He has requested that the EPP revoke the idea of expelling FIDESZ, and even offered to compromise on some issues, but the rhetoric from both sides appear to be largely incompatible.
4. Albanian opposition parties’ front against the government begins to weaken. Two of the main opposition parties that started to boycott the Albanian parliament last year and that have actively been participating in protests against the Edi Rama government are beginning to face severe challenges by their colleagues. Last week, four candidates from the Democratic Party and three from LSI (the Socialist Movement for Integration) accepted to take over the MP mandates of their colleagues who are boycotting. So far, the number of opposition MPs who defied the boycott has reached eleven.
5. Scandals hit each of Czechia’s two largest parties, the ruling ANO and the main opposition Civic Democrats. Jaroslav Faltýnek, ANO’s parliamentary leader and deputy head of the party, is being accused of coordinating a meeting between Kapsch, an Austrian tolling company and the National Antitrust Office to facilitate a better contract for Kapsch. The Kapsch offices were raided, and further details are still coming out. Meanwhile, Civic Democrats MP Vaclav Klaus Jr. compared the Chamber of Deputies to the Centre for Jewish Emigration of the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, sparking calls for his ousting from the party, which he is refusing to do. With the upcoming European Parliament elections, these scandals might hurt either party’s results.
6. The Balkan route of migrants is becoming active again, with Bosnia and Herzegovina being expected to grow the focus this spring. Around 2.300 migrants have entered the country illegally in January and February, and the Bosnian Defense Minister expects that number to rise as the weather becomes warmer. There are speculations that around 70.000 migrants are in Greece, preparing to try to enter Western Europe through the Balkan route. In North Macedonia, a man trying to smuggle five migrants into Serbia was arrested this week.
7. A right-wing protest against a major corruption scandal that hit an ally of the Ukrainian President turned violent. The rally was one of the most violent post-Maidan incidents, which saw tear gas being used by police and fireworks by protestors, who also tried to block the president’s motorcade. The issue revolves around defense-related smuggling from Russia which is seen as treasonous by the right-wing protesters. While the accused in the scandal has already been fired, a formal investigation appears to be pushing back against some of the claims made in the news report that first brought attention to the issues.
8. After losing local elections in Tuzi, the Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, blamed foreign influence. Mr. Djukanovic claimed that Kosovo and Albanian heads of states who supported the ethnic Albanian coalition that won half of the seats in the first local election in the freshly reconstituted municipality Tuzi were interfering in Montenegro’s political processes.
9. This week saw celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Czechia, Hungary, and Poland’s accession into NATO. Slovakia, the only member of the V4, not included in that round of ascensions, was included five years later due to issues with its then leadership. The leaders of the four countries met in Poland to commemorate the occasion, where multiple speeches marked the importance of the V4, particularly Poland, within the alliance as well as the dangers of Russia from the East.
10. Croatian residents and authorities on the island of Krk began fighting the scheduled construction of a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The Croatian government is a co-financer of the terminal, together with the European Union. The import of LNG from North Africa to Croatia should reduce Croatia’s dependence on Russian gas. The terminal, however, according to the local authorities, would violate the urban plan of the island. Environmentalists also fear that the construction would harm the island’s environment, and the Krk local population is afraid that that might affect tourism.
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