SARAJEVO

Ekspertni timovi Evropske komisije, koji su jučer u BiH započeli provjeru provedbe uslova za ukidanje viza bh. građanima, nisu imali primjedbi na realizaciju uslova, rekao je Samir Rizvo, šef bh. Interresorne radne grupe za liberalizaciju viznog režima.

“Predstavnici Evropske komisije zaduženi za oblasti granica, migracija i azila započeli su provjeru provedbe uslova iz ‘mape puta’ za ukidanje viza. Susreli su se s Komisijom za integrisano upravljanje granicama, Komisijom za granice te posjetili Službu za poslove sa strancima”, istakao je Rizvo i dodao da eksperti Evropske komisije nisu imali ni novih uslova za vlasti u BiH. Read the rest of this entry »

A delegation of Members the Moldovan Parliament, headed by Igor Corman (PD), chairperson of the Foreign Policy and European Integration Board, will make an official visit to Romania in the period between February 7 and 10

The Moldovan MPs go to Bucharest at the invitation of the Foreign Policy Board of the Romanian Senate. Read the rest of this entry »

The cooperation between Macedonia and Albania is highly significant to the stability in the region and to overall development of the Balkans, a senior Macedonian official said on Monday.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta. Read the rest of this entry »

Ministarstvo pravde BiH pripremilo je, a Vijeće ministara BiH i parlament BiH usvojili izmjene Zakona o ministarstvima i drugim organima uprave, kojima je Ured za reviziju svrstan među upravne organizacije. Tim su izmjenama na mala vrata dokinuli nezavisnost ovog ureda. Read the rest of this entry »

SARAJEVO

Jedini put u sigurnu i prosperitetnu budućnost za BiH su evropske i evroatlantske integracije. Poručili su to jučer senatori Džon Mekejn i Džozef Liberman, koji su predvodili delegaciju Kongresa SAD, koja je boravila u jednodnevnoj posjeti BiH.

Naglasili su da BiH mora prestati gubiti vrijeme te krenuti putem jedinstva jer je to put koji vodi ka Evropskoj uniji i NATO-u. Read the rest of this entry »

The International Monetary Mission Fund (IMF) will send its mission to Belgrade on Monday to assess the country’s bid for a third installment of the stand-by agreement of an IMF. Read the rest of this entry »

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki is set to visit Albania on Monday.

During his stay in Tirana, Minister Milososki will meet Foreign Minister Ilir Meta, President Bamir Topi, Parliament President Josefina Topali and Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Read the rest of this entry »

It looks likely that pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has won Ukraine’s presidential election – but only by a slender margin.

Claiming victory, he told supporters: “People wanted change and I think this election was the first step towards the unification of the nation.” Read the rest of this entry »

On the second day of his working visit to Britain Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov visits the British intelligence and parliament and confers with his British counterpart Gordon Brown. Read the rest of this entry »

Officials from the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive in Bulgaria 18 February to examine the country’s readiness to join ERM II, the so-called Eurozone waiting room. Read the rest of this entry »

There is no alternative to Macedonia’s EU and NATO future, Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov said Sunday after the completion of the Munich Security Conference.

While the name row with Greece hampers this perspective, he said his country was doing everything in its power to overcome the obstacle. Read the rest of this entry »

The Russian foreign ministry on Friday (February 5th) expressed concern and demanded an explanation after Romania announced plans to deploy elements of a proposed US missile defence shield. The Supreme Defence Council in Bucharest backed the idea Thursday.

Romanian President Traian Basescu says the facilities should be operational by 2015 and that the new system is not directed against Russia. But Moscow is not convinced. “This is a serious issue and we will analyse it seriously.This, of course, causes our concern. We need clarifications. We will raise these issues in our contacts with our European and US partners,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.

The BiH Court on Friday (February 5th) convicted defendants Predrag Bastah and Goran Viskovic of crimes against humanity, sentencing them to 22 and 18 years in prison respectively.

According to the indictment, Bastah, who was a police reservist in a public security station in Vlasenica, and Viskovic, who was a member of the Republika Srpska army, were involved in the “illegal imprisonment” and murder of three civilians in Vlasenica, between April and September 1992. Viskovic was also found guilty of raping three women.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Saturday (February 6th) that she would like all Western Balkan countries to be successful on their paths to EU integration. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Ashton said progress depends on the pace of reforms, and that some countries are performing better than others.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat vowed on Friday (February 5th) to continue talks with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias on the reunification of the divided island. “Although we [Turkish Cypriots] have elections in April, I’m not going to stop the talks. Read the rest of this entry »

Ukrainians are going to the polls to choose a new president after a bitter election campaign with the two contenders accusing each other of plotting to rig the vote.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has accused her opponent of ensuring her aides are unable to oversee votes cast in the eastern sector of the country where her support is weakest. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hague Prosecution has filed a new indictment against Vojislav Seselj for contempt of the Tribunal.

For a second time, Seselj has been indicted for disclosing names of protected witnesses in one of his books.

According the latest indictment, Seselj disclosed the names, occupations and residences of 11 witnesses. The title of the book has not been made public. Read the rest of this entry »

SARAJEVO

Apelaciono vijeće Suda BiH potvrdilo je jučer prvostepenu presudu ovog suda kojom je ranije Momčilo Mandić oslobođen odgovornosti za ratne zločine i zločine protiv čovječnosti.

Momčilo Mandić, bivši ministar pravde RS, bio je optužen za ratne zločine počinjene u KPZ Foča, Butmir i Planjina kuća.

“Sud BiH je, nakon održane sjednice vijeća Apelacionog odjeljenja na kojoj je razmotrena žalba Tužilaštva BiH donijelo drugostepenu presudu kojom se odbija kao neosnovana žalba Tužilaštva, te se potvrđuje prvostepena presuda od 18. jula 2007. godine kojom je Mandić oslobođen optužbi da je počinio krivična djela ratni zločin protiv civilnog stanovništva i zločini protiv čovječnosti”, saopćeno je juče iz Suda BiH. Read the rest of this entry »

„SUA şi Rusia au ajuns, la negocierile de la Geneva, la un acord de principiu asupra primului Tratat de reducere a armelor nucleare în 20 de ani” („Wall Street Journal”, 3 februarie 2010)

Evenimentul cel mai semnificativ legat de vizita preşedintelui Băsescu la Chişinău este… tăcerea Moscovei. Nu a existat până acum nicio reacţie oficială după această vizită extinsă şi profundă, deşi oficialii ruşi au reacţionat până acum la gesturi incomparabil mai benigne ale Bucureştiului faţă de Chişinău. Şi totuşi, Moscova a tăcut. Semnificaţia acestei tăceri cuprinde în ea, poate, cheia înţelegerii regiunii. Dincolo de orice „tranzacţie” la nivel înalt sau toate declaraţiile politice de la Chişinău, cetăţenii RM sunt astăzi, de fapt, în faza în care trebuie să îşi decidă, cu adevărat, apartenenţa. Read the rest of this entry »

Vijeće ministara i bh. parlament pretvorili su Ured za reviziju institucija BiH u upravnu organizaciju, čime je ukinuta nezavisnost ove institucije.

Tvrdi ovo Milenko Šego, glavni revizor Ureda za reviziju bh. institucija.

Ministarstvo pravde BiH predložilo je, a Vijeće ministara i parlament BiH usvojili su izmjene Zakona o ministarstvima i drugim organima uprave kojim su Ured za reviziju svrstali među upravne organizacije. Izmjene zakona na snazi su od početka ove godine. Read the rest of this entry »

Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Konuzin warned Serbia that if Serbia joins NATO that means that Serbia will have to recognize Kosovo independence.

He said that Russia’s relation to other countries depends on whether they are NATO members on not.

Ambassador Konuzin pointed out that if Serbia continues to insist on becoming a NATO member state it might come to worsening the strong ties it has with Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

The Macedonian parliament adopted a declaration of support to the European parliament (EP) Srebrenica Genocide Resolution of January 15, 2010.

The Resolution condemns the massacre in 1995 in Srebrenica. Read the rest of this entry »

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo intends to monitor the influence that the KFOR reduction is going to have on Kosovo communities.

This is according to Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Werner Almhofer, who spoke id in Vienna on Thursday.

Submitting his six-month report on the Mission’s activities to the OSCE Permanent Council, Almhofer pointed out that there are tensions in the north of Kosovo, and that the situation is relatively stable, but fragile. Read the rest of this entry »

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet backed Greece’s austerity measures, saying he is confident that the country will do what is needed to cut the budget deficit.

“We expect and we are confident that the Greek government will take all the decisions that will permit them to reach that goal,” Trichet said at a press conference. Read the rest of this entry »

The new U.S. ambassador in Belgrade, Mary Warlick, has announced that the door of NATO membership is open to Serbia, stressing that Serbia is the one to decide if it wants to join the alliance.

Warlick said that “the United States fully supports the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Serbia and is doing all it can to facilitate Belgrade’s efforts in this direction.” Read the rest of this entry »

Blockage at Ilinden-Exohi checkpoint is finally lifted for all types of vehicles. Protesting Greek farmers have removed the tractors and other farming machines.

The first mission that will assess the situation for opening talks on the visa liberalization regime with the EU will be working in Chisinau between March 1 and 3, Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iurie Leanca announced Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

Finnish FM Alexander Stubb says that Finland is “strongly supporting Serbia on its path toward the EU”.

He also said that he is hoping for the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between Serbia and the EU to take place “soon”. Read the rest of this entry »

There are differences over recognition but there is agreement on the substantial program of help that EU is putting in place in Kosovo, says Catherine Ashton.

The EU foreign policy chief stated that main challenges of the EU foreign policy were Kosovo, how to rally Chinese and Russian support for a possible effort at tightening sanctions against Iran on account of its nuclear program, the Middle East conflict and building the EU’s own diplomatic service. Read the rest of this entry »

European Parliament will hold a plenary session on February 10th to debate the progress of Macedonia, Croatia and Turkey towards the European Union membership.

European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee recently adopted the amendments to draft-resolution on Macedonia, urging the EU Read the rest of this entry »

US Senate delegation will pay official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and meet with BiH top officials.

US Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman are scheduled to meet with Bosnian Defense Minister Selma Cikotic.

At the meeting they will discuss the country’s current situation and Bosnia and Herzegovina activities regarding NATO membership.

The Appellate Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has acquitted Momcilo Mandic on all charges for war crimes against civilians and crimes against humanity.

Mandic was a justice minister in the government of the so-called Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian war. Radovan Karadzic, currently on trial for war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was the president of the republic during the war. Read the rest of this entry »

Romania has agreed to host rocket interceptors in what appears to be a revamped version of the US missile defence shield.

Romania’s President Trian Basescu said participation was approved after an invitation from Washington.

Russia is expected to make a statement soon but Basescu insisted the move, which still needs parliamentary approval, was not meant to threaten Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

After Macedonian Prime Minister (PM) Nikola Gruevski has sent an invitation for a meeting to his Greek counterpart George Papandreou, the Greek government announced such things require preparation.

“Mr Gruevski has proposed to hold meeting with Papandreou. Mr Papandreou’s answer to the invitation is that such things require preparations,” the Cabinet of the Greek PM said.

SARAJEVO

Tužilaštvo BiH predložilo je jednomjesečni pritvor za sedmoricu pripadnika vehabijskog pokreta uhapšenih u utorak u Gornjoj Maoči kod Brčkog.

Potvrdio je ovo juče Boris Grubešić, glasnogovornik Tužilaštva BiH.

“Sedam osoba koje su uhapšene u združenoj policijskoj akciji danas su predate Tužilaštvu BiH. Oni su osumnjičeni za ugrožavanje teritorijalne cjelovitosti BiH, napad na ustavni poredak BiH i izazivanje narodnosne, rasne ili vjerske mržnje, razdora i netrpeljivosti. Pritvor za osumnjičene zatražen je zbog mogućnosti bijega, utjecaja na svjedoke, sklanjanja dokaza i ugrožavanja opće sigurnosti”, rekao je jučer Grubešić. Read the rest of this entry »