by Aleksandra Vrbica
Alongside hundreds of news organisations, media support associations and individuals from over 100 countries, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is taking part in this year’s World News Day, which is aimed at raising awareness about the value of credible news reporting.
As part of the World News Day activities, BIRN is highlighting 12 of Balkan Insight’s most important investigations from the past 12 months. The stories include reports on journalists being targeted by law enforcement in Romania and by the intelligence service in Serbia, the torture of migrants in the Balkans by an armed Afghan gang and the escalation of arms shipments to Israel from Serbia.
Press freedom
Becoming the Story: How Journalists Are Being Targeted by Romanian Law Enforcement
This report reveals how journalists conducting public-interest investigations in Romania were put under surveillance by their targets with the help of law enforcement.
Silent Spying: How Serbian Intelligence Hacks Activists’ Phones – Without Them Knowing
A BIRN investigation supported by Amnesty International showed how Serbia’s domestic security agency has been unlocking activists’ phones using Israeli technology and installing a locally-developed spyware.
Serbia and Israel
Regardless of War Crimes Claims, Serbia’s Arms Sales to Israel Soar
Between 2023 and 2024, the value of Serbian arms sales to Israel rose from 1.4 million euros to 42.3 million. Belgrade shrugged off widespread accusations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and calls from United Nations human rights experts for a halt to the delivery of deadly weapons, BIRN and Haaretz reported.
Billboards and Bullets: An Israeli Spin Doctor at the Service of Serbia
Israeli PR guru Srulik Einhorn worked to burnish the image of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, BIRN and Haaretz reported – facilitate the flow of Serbian arms to Israel’s war in Gaza. Wanted for questioning in Israel, Einhorn has set up shop in Belgrade.
The Balkan migrant route
As Borders Tighten, Violence Rises on Migrant Route Through the Balkans
According to Frontex, the EU’s border force, the number of ‘illegal migrants’ using the Balkan route to reach the European bloc has fallen. With the EU tightening its borders, violent transnational smuggling groups have strengthened their grip on the routes that bring refugees and migrants to Europe through the Balkans.
BWK: The Armed Afghan Gang Terrorising Migrants, Refugees Crossing Bosnia
Amid heightened border security, an armed Afghan gang operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina has turned to kidnapping asylum seekers and demanding ransom payments from their families. Its tactics include physical abuse and sometimes rape.
Italy to Albania, and Back: A Migrant’s Journey Through Italy’s Asylum Experiment
Italy’s right-wing government called it a magic wand for the migrants arriving on its shores, but a deal with Albania to outsource and accelerate asylum processing has run afoul of Italian courts. One Bangladeshi’s story explains how it also makes migrants’ journeys even more traumatic.
‘Like Prison’: How African Migrant Workers Suffer Exploitation in Albania
Migrant workers from Africa told BIRN about having to surrender their passports on arrival in Albania, working unpaid overtime and facing deportation once they are no longer required. Many are left with debts to the agencies that act as middlemen.
Operation Interceptor: How Bosnia’s Border Chief Created His Own Elite Unit
This report from Sarajevo details the creation of a shadowy, heavily-armed and potentially illegal police unit at the exclusive, 24-hour beck and call of the man who led Bosnia’s border police for nine years and is now a fugitive from arrest.
Corruption in the Balkans
School Scam: The Phantom Organisations Hoovering up Serbian Public Money
In 2022 and 2023, Serbia’s Education Ministry allocated almost 200,000 euros to 11 NGOs to organise violence prevention workshops in schools. BIRN has traced all the NGOs to the same small group of people – and found that most of the workshops never happened.
Wartime crimes
‘With Our Bare Hands’: The Roma Forced to Clean up Serbia’s Crimes in Kosovo
During the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, Roma municipal employees were forced to clean up the crimes committed by Serbian forces, carrying and disposing of corpses with their bare hands. Branded collaborators, they were targeted for revenge after the fighting finished.
China in the Balkans
Parallel Government: How Vucic Turned Serbia’s Constitution on its Head
The case of a Chinese-led power plant expansion in Serbia laid bare the extent to which President Aleksandar Vucic has upended the country’s constitution, creating an unofficial layer of government calling the shots in areas where legal experts say it has no jurisdiction whatsoever.