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WAR CRIMES

Swede suspected of war crimes in Serbia

A Swedish citizen was remanded into custody in Serbia on Wednesday after having been picked up by Serbian border police when entering the country. According to the Swedish foreign ministry he is suspected of war crimes.

“We have been informed that a Swedish man has been detained by Serbian border police,” Anna Björkander of the foreign ministry information department confirmed to The Local.

The man, who is in his mid-forties, is currently being held in custody in Belgrade and according to Björkander he is suspected of war crimes.

“We have received information indicating that he is suspected of war crimes in Kosovo in the late 1990’s,” she said.

So far the Swedish embassy has not been allowed to see the man but according to Björkander the Swedish ambassador put in a formal request to meet him on Thursday.

“We are hoping to see him shortly, but we don’t know when that will be yet,” Björkander said.

As the embassy staff haven’t been able to see the man, Björkander was not able to say what his reactions to the accusations are.

However, according to news agency TT, the man’s Belgrade-based lawyer says that he was in Sweden at the time that the crimes allegedly were committed and that the police have arrested the wrong person.

The man, who is from the Gothenburg-area, was traveling to Kosovo with his family where they were due to go on holiday, when he was taken into custody by border police between Hungary and Serbia.

According to Björkander there will be a hearing on Monday in Belgrade.

“We don’t know whether we will be able to attend, but we will be following the process closely,” Björkander told The Local.

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DATA

Austria’s Foreign Ministry hit by ‘serious cyber attack’

Austria's foreign ministry is facing a "serious cyber attack", it said late on Saturday, warning another country could be responsible.

Austria's Foreign Ministry hit by 'serious cyber attack'
The Foreign Ministry building on Minoritenplatz, Vienna, back in 2006. Photo: Gryffindor/Wikimedia Commons
“Due to the gravity and nature of the attack, it cannot be excluded that it is a targeted attack by a state actor,” it said in a statement with the interior ministry shortly before 11.00 pm, adding that the attack was ongoing.
   
“In the past, other European countries have been the target of similar attacks,” it continued.
   
Immediate measures had been taken and a “coordination committee” set up, it said, without elaborating.
 
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The attack came as Austria's Greens on Saturday gave the go-ahead to a coalition with the country's conservatives at a party congress in Salzburg, removing the last obstacle to the unprecedented alliance.
   
The German government's IT network in 2018 was hit by a cyberattack.
   
Last year the EU adopted powers to punish those outside the bloc who launch cyberattacks that cripple hospitals and banks, sway elections and steal company secrets or funds.