Lela Scepanovic is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
At least 28 kilograms of smuggled opals has brought nothing but trouble for the authorities in Montenegro, including the latest lawsuit seeking a payout equal to around half of the country's GDP.
Montenegro has decided to end a Western deal reached in 2021 that helped protect against currency fluctuations that caused rising construction costs and added debt to the nearly $1 billion highway. The move highlights Podgorica’s confidence to repay a loan that once threatened its national finances.
President Milo Djukanovic has steered Montenegro from the Milosevic era through independence and NATO membership. Now he's seeking a final term, with his tiny Balkan nation mired in political and institutional crisis.
The Balkans' smallest country lost its Orthodox leadership to the pandemic. But of Montenegro's three main religions, only Islamic leaders are encouraging the faithful to get their shots against COVID-19.
Already demographically challenged, the Balkans' least populous state appears to have failed at combating signs of widespread use of abortion to ensure the birth of baby boys.
Disillusioned and with some of Europe's -- and the world’s -- highest unemployment rates, many young people trying to enter the workforce in the Balkans are wondering what they can do to find work other than leave.
In April, Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian consumer rights and protection agency, said it was banning imports of Plantaze wine because of elevated levels of metalaxyl, a pesticide, and particle plastic diphtalata in some vintages.
