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OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Estonian premier quits after Tallinn development scandal
Top Centre Party official suspected of corruption in Tallinn real estate scandal
Czech Pirates and Mayors approve final coalition agreement for 2021 elections
OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
Romanian tech entrepreneurs expand into banking sector
OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary
Hungarian government remains silent after Capitol riots
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
World Bank expects modest recovery for Europe and Central Asia in 2021
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
Slovakia to invest €1.2bn in digitisation
BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania
Heavy flooding causes chaos in parts of Southeast Europe
Vodafone Albania plans €100mn infrastructure investments after AbCom merger
OUTLOOK 2021 Albania
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ING THINK: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
OUTLOOK 2020 Bulgaria
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Zagreb Stock Exchange's Crobex10 index at highest level since March 5
OUTLOOK 2021 Kosovo
Arrera Automobili aims to launch Albania’s first supercar
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Moldova’s PM resigns to prepare the ground for early elections
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OUTLOOK 2021 Montenegro
Vast tide of floating waste threatens Balkan hydropower plants
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OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia
Transparency International warns of high corruption risk in CEE defence sectors
Moldova fears flooding from Ukraine's planned Dniester hydropower plants
Romania’s industrial recovery paused in November
OUTLOOK 2021 Serbia
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
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Slovenia’s Eligma completes €4mn funding round
Turkish opposition leader lawsuit demands one lira from Erdogan, police probe “bald” interior minister posts
Akbank takes over Istanbul's Palladium Atasehir shopping mall
Armenia’s PM cautions conflict with Azerbaijan “still not settled” after trilateral meeting with Putin
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COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
Russia, Kazakhstan pushing for oil production increases on the back of coronavirus vaccine-fuelled oil price optimism
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Georgia’s political kingpin Bidzina Ivanishvili quits politics
Modern-day “Robin Hood” inspires Georgians drowning in debt
Iran’s navy conducts missile drill while analyst argues Trump even capable of nuclear strike in final days
TEHRAN BLOG: Who’s more credible? Johnson backing Trump’s Nobel chances or Iran applauding arrest warrant for US president?
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OUTLOOK 2021 Kyrgyzstan
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
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Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
Mongolia in lockdown after suffering first local coronavirus transmissions
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
China business briefing: Not happy with Kyrgyzstan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
Turkmenistan: The dammed united
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
OUTLOOK 2021 Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan’s Makro positions itself for growth in a more competitive market
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The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci and nine others over war crimes committed during the independence war with Serbia in 1998-1999, it announced on June 24.
After the announcement, Thaci’s office said that the president cancelled his trip to the US where he was to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on June 27 to discuss the resumption of the normalisation dialogue between the two countries. The meeting was organised by the US special envoy Richard Grenell.
Kadri Veseli, a leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, to whose ranks Thaci belongs, is also among those indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, disappearance of persons, torture and persecution, according to the indictment.
The indictment said Thaci, Veseli and others are suspected of being responsible for nearly 100 murders of Kosovo Albanians, Serbs and Roma including their political opponents.
A Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) pre-trial judge is currently reviewing the indictment to decide on whether to confirm the charges.
”The indictment is only an accusation and is a result of a lengthy investigation,” the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office said in the statement.
The Specialist Prosecutor also said that the indictment was filed in April, but is has been revealed now because Thaci and Veseli tried to undermine the work of the KSC and carried out a secret campaign to overturn the law creating the court in an attempt to avoid trials.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but it is still not recognised by Belgrade as a separate country. The proclamation of independence came following the Kosovo war in 1998-1999 which ended with Nato attacks in Serbia. The independence war claimed more than 10,000 victims.
Thaci was elected president on February 26, 2016 for a five year mandate and officially took up the position on April 7 the same year. He was a leader of the Democratic Party from 1999 to 2016 when he became president. During his career he served as foreign minister, first deputy prime minister and he was the country’s first prime minister from January 2008 until December 2014.
Prior to that, Thaci was directly involved in the Kosovo independence war with Serbian military forces. Thaci joined former paramilitary organisation Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1993 and was the organisation’s political director from 1994 to 1999 when the independence war with Serbia ended.
When he was a leader of KLA, there were media reports that the KLA was financing its activities by trafficking illegal drugs into western Europe. Allegations of organ-trafficking are also connected with the KLA.
The KSC and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were set up in 2015 in The Hague, but are working under Kosovo's jurisdiction.
Since 2018, the Specialist Prosecution has invited over 100 former KLA members, including top officials. Ex-prime minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned in July 2019 to appear at the court for questioning.
In April, Thaci said that he will quit politics after his mandate ends in April next year.
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