Government mirrors Polish judicial tactics with blocked appointment
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Ministers have declined to appoint a new judge, adopting a maneuver that recently earned Poland a condemnation from the European Court of Human Rights. It is a familiar script in the region: a government finds the judiciary inconvenient and discovers a sudden, unexplained difficulty in filling the bench.
A cyberattack on the state administration has compromised 15,000 records, leaving officials to recommend that citizens change their passwords. Meanwhile, the former cabinet of Janez Janša is accused of running disinformation campaigns against political rivals from within the prime minister's office. The tools of state power are being used for various ends, not all of them administrative.
The parliamentary speaker, Zoran Stevanović, is facing scrutiny over alleged links to foreign tycoons and the Serbian Orthodox Church, while experts are warning against a government plan to allow alcohol sales in schools. Elsewhere, the luxury car of a man seeking state-funded legal aid has provided a reminder that in the local economy, appearances and bank balances do not always align.