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.

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

Polish President Andrzej Duda (L) and President-elect Karol Nawrocki (R) meet at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, 03 June 2025. EPA-EFE/Pawel Supernak Nawrocki’s Victory May Prove ...

In a statement responding to this recording, Giertych speculated there might be another reason why the right-wing media published the material now. “As for the timing of publication, I think it ...

Remains believed to belong to three members of a Bosniak family killed in 1992 after they fled to Montenegro to escape the war in Bosnia have been exhumed in the city of Niksic.

Croatia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Ivan Anusic, presented the new Law on Service in the Armed Forces, restoring obligatory military service, to the public on Wednesday.

Twenty years ago, a union launched an uphill battle to take over their failing machine-tool factory and return it to the workers. Today, they savour the fruits of that victory.