Hidden Plants: Albania Cannabis Growers Expand in Kosovo Mountains

A highly organised marijuana plantation, maintained by citizens from Albania, was discovered in Kosovo’s mountains of Peja. Seven suspects, one detained and six escaped, are believed to have been living in the plantation since early September. On the morning of September 27, under the direction of the Peja Prosecutor’s Office, the Kosovo Police conducted a…

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Kosovo Government Increases Pensions Ahead of Elections

A few months ahead of the parliamentary elections, Kosovo PM Albin Kurti announced a 20 percent increase in pensions for various categories of retired people, a move the opposition has called an attempt to “buy votes.” Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced on Monday that the government will increase pensions by 20 percent, a move…

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Breaking the Stalemate: How Kosovo’s Constitution Holds the Key to the Association of Serb Majority Municipalities

For nearly 12 years, the establishment of the Association of Serb Majority Municipalities has been a hurdle between Kosovo and Serbia. By following Kosovo’s Constitution, this seemingly complicated issue is actually straightforward and resolvable. Kosovo and Serbia have been locked in a frozen conflict since the former declared independence in 2008. While the two countries…

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A Walk through Resistance: A Visitor’s Take from Kosovo’s Reporting House

An old socialist-era premise in Prishtina is offering visitors a unique perspective of Kosovo’s turbulent past with art pieces, photographs, videos, and artefacts displayed as part of BIRN’s Reporting House. Before entering the Reporting House exhibition hall, an eye-catching jeep awaits visitors. It is the vehicle that renowned war reporter Vaughan Smith used on mountainous…

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Kosovo Postpones Trial for Banjska Attack, Awaits Supreme Court Ruling

The first trial hearing for the 2023 deadly attack in Banjska was postponed to October, and Kosovo’s Supreme Court was asked to rule on whether the trial of fugitive kingpin Milan Radoicic and 41 others can be held in absentia. Scheduled to start on Wednesday, the trial at the Prishtina Basic Court over the deadly…

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Kosovo Commemorates Police Sergeant Killed in 2023 Banjska Attack

One year after Kosovo Police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed when Serb gunmen led by Kosovo Serb kingpin Milan Radoicic attacked police in the village of Banjska, the authorities renamed a road leading to the village after him. Prime Minister Albin Kurti, members of the cabinet, parliament speaker Glauk Konjufca and police director Gazmed Hoxha…

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Kosovo’s 90s Turmoil : Elez Biberaj Recounts Key Interviews in VOA

Elez Biberaj, a Voice of America journalist, reflected in an interview with BIRN on how the 1980-1990s rising tensions in Kosovo prompted VOA leadership to send correspondents to report from the region. Biberaj, an ethnic Albanian from Montenegro, migrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of 15. He began working at VOA…

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Rural Renaissance: Agritourism Offers New Vitality to Kosovo’s Emptying Villages

In Kosovo, agritourism is on the rise, with people abandoning urban stress to invest in village revitalisation and establish a sustainable lifestyle away from the city. Adrian Berisha once felt shackled by the grind of urban life in Prishtina, which he likened to modern-day slavery. The ceaseless battle for affordability on stepping out of his…

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