Aggression

Verbal bullying, chest-thumping, crass populism veiled as blunt honesty, and divisive poison: Former alternate health minister Pavlos Polakis pulled out every weapon in the arsenal that defined his time in government.

Bulgaria's Grand Mufti's Office called on the police on Friday to investigate an attack on its office in the capital, Sofia, as a "hate crime".

The windows of the building in central Sofia were smashed with stones by an unknown person on Thursday, three days after swastikas and other hate symbols were scratched onto a mosque in the central town of Karlovo on July 2.

The central Bosnian town of Zenica in May hosted several young people from several towns in Bosnia with one aim - to paint over offensive, hateful graffiti.

Nationalist and political slurs and threats against ethnic groups are now transformed into a colourful mural, under a team led by Faruk Celikovic, a young street artist.

NATO said on April 4 it was taking new action to counter Russia's "aggression," finding a united message amid other differences within the Western alliance on its 70th anniversary.

The Italian Interior Minister's boast about deporting 13 convicted criminals to Romania risks further scapegoating migrants in Italy, analysts warn.

"It's been 20 years since NATO's aggression on one sovereign country, which was not guided only by bombs from the air, it was done almost by any means - political, media," the president told RTS on Tuesday.

The father of a college student who committed suicide after being subjected to violent and vicious bullying from a group of peers is due to stand trial on Monday for allegedly attacking the former director of the school where the tragedy transpired in 2015.

Serbian police on Monday interrogated two participants at last weekend's anti-government protests for allegedly carrying a makeshift gallows during the rally in Belgrade on February 2.

Whenever things get tough, the Greek government appears to start looking for phantom enemies to pin the blame on.

As bank shares plunged earlier this week, the leftist-led administration sought to put the blame on foreign news media and Greece's conservative opposition.

China accused the United States on Monday of using false accusations on trade to "intimidate" other countries, as the tariff battle between the global giants intensifies.