Monday Briefing from the Balkans: June 23, 2025
Source: Balkan Insight
Protesters attend a rally in support of the Palestinian people in Belgrade, 22 June 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC.
Serbian activists protest ammunition sales to Israel
Activists, students and other Serbians held a rally on Sunday in Belgrade calling for Serbia to stop exporting ammunition to Israel. A BIRN investigation earlier this year showed how Serbia exported 42.3 million euros of ammunition to Israel in 2024 – a 30-fold increase since 2023.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the Jerusalem Post earlier this month that his country intended to continue supporting Israel with arms supplies. “We will always appreciate, respect, and like the Jewish people and Israel,” he said.
Sunday’s protest was organised by a group called Support for the People of Palestine – Serbia, and backed by student organisations, which are also involved in their own ongoing protests.
Athens condemns attack on Greek church in Syria
The Greek Foreign Ministry condemned the suicide attack on the Greek Orthodox Church of Mar Elias in Damascus, Syria on Sunday which killed 22 people and injured 52.
“Religious sites must never be targets for terror. Everyone has the right to practice their faith in complete peace and safety,” the Ministry wrote on X about the attack, which has been attributed to Islamic State.
Bosnia gets Turkish arms donation
The Bosnian Armed Forces on Saturday received the first four KIRPI II armoured transporters from Turkey – part of a larger donation of 32 such vehicles.
Considering the Armed Forces’ small budget, the Turkish donation represents one of the few upgrades of Bosnian military hardware since the formation of the force back in 2006.
Croatia marks Day of Anti-Fascist Struggle
A commemoration for the Day of Anti-Fascist Struggle was held on Sunday at a World War II memorial in the Brezovica Forest near Sisak, Croatia. It was held at the place where the was founded on June 22, 1941.
The head of Croatia’s anti-fascist veterans organisation, Franjo Habilin, said his group will continue “standing up against historical revisionism, against the transformation of the [WWII-era Croatian fascist] Ustasa regime and its crimes into patriotism”.
Turkish opposition demands release of Istanbul mayor
Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Sunday criticised the government’s crackdown on its political opponents and called for the release of Istanbul’s mayor and opposition presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu.
“Release my candidate, bring on the ballot box,” Ozel told tens of thousands of people at a rally in Tekirdag province.
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