Kosovo President Hashim Thaci arrived at the Kosovo Specialist Chamber (KSC) on Monday for questioning about alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed two decades ago, news wires reported. "Today I am ready to face new challenges successfully, for my son, for my family and my people. This is the price of freedom. I believe in truth and freedom," he told reporters before entering, according to a report by Kosovo broadcaster Klan Kosova.

The Balkans, one of the poorest regions in Europe with the most fragile medical infrastructure, is bracing against a surge in coronavirus infections, AFP reported.

With mandatory face masks and a two-meter distance, North Macedonian citizens will vote this week in the first parliamentary election under the country new name.  It will be also the first time the elections are held on a weekday, on Wednesday,  after the vote was postponed from 12 April due to the pandemic.

Turkey’s parliament ratified disputed legislation amending laws governing attorneys and bar associations on Saturday, despite protests from critics who say the move could limit the independence of lawyers and reduce the professional associations’ clout.

Scores of arrests were made after a group of violent demonstrators on Friday night again clashed with police in front of the Serbian parliament, and also attacked numerous reporters and anyone filming the scene.

Kosovo and Serbia agreed to resume EU-backed normalisation talks, at a video summit on Friday, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the official re-starts of talks in Brussels between Serbia and Kosovo, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed for next week, BalkanInsight reported.

The Council of State, Turkey's top administrative court, on Friday overturned a 1934 decree that made Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia a museum, state news agency Anadolu reported, clearing the way for it to be reconverted into a mosque. It was not clear if the ruling will go into effect immediately, dpa noted.

Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation army (KLA), which fought for the independence from Serbia, gathered at a main square in the capital of Pristina and other cities on Thursday to denounce the indictment of President Hashim Thaci on war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during and after a 1998-1999-armed conflict.

Violence erupted for the second day on Wednesday in Serbia during demonstrations in the capital Belgrade and others cities against the president’s handling of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.

Thousands of protesters tried to storm the parliament building in Belgrade on Tuesday after the Serbian president announced that a coronavirus lockdown will be reintroduced in the Balkan country, news wires reported.