Monthly Archives: September 2012

Serbia Awaits Toughly Worded EU Report

Brussels expected to say that Serbia’s progress toward EU membership has been limited – and that it is postponing opening of accession talks at least until the end of next year.The October progress report is likely to say that with this year’s general elections and delays to the formation of …

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Two Kosovo Serbs Arrested Over Wartime Rape

Two Kosovo Serbs, who are suspected of having raped Kosovo Albanian women during the 1998-1999 war, have been placed under house arrest for a month.The EU rule of law mission to Kosovo, EULEX, police arrested the first suspect, Dj.B, on Thursday morning, at Babin Most, a village some 15 kilometres …

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Albania Empowers Agencies to Monitor Internet

An amendment to the law on intercepting telecommunications will expand government agencies’ powers to monitor communications to include Internet activity.The bill presented to Wednesday’s cabinet by Prime Minister Sali Berisha gives intelligence and law enforcement agencies broad powers to work with private companies to share information on Internet users.

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Bosnia Warns Syria May Become ‘New Srebrenica’

Bosnia Presidency member Bakir Izetbegovic tells UN General Assembly that international inaction over Syria has increased the danger of Srebrenica-style carnage.Izetbegovic, Bosniak [Muslim] member of the country’s tripartite presidency, told the UN General Assembly that the international community “failed” to handle the crisis in eastern Bosnia in July 1995 – …

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Macedonia Still Guarding Public Information, NGO Says

Six years since the adoption of a Public Information Access Law, Macedonians still have trouble obtaining official information, the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia says.Macedonia’s information law is good in theory, but poor implementation means it is of little practical use, Open Society Macedonia said in its latest analysis. Its …

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Half of Serbia Now on Facebook

About 3.5 million people – roughly half the population of Serbia – are now on the social networking site Facebook, a recent survey shows.Half of Serbia’s roughly 7 million people now have an account on the social networking site Facebook, recent data show. Facebook users in the country also represent …

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IMF Approves €405 Million Standby for Bosnia

The IMF has approved a two-year stand-by arrangement of 405.3 million euro for the country – but it won’t get all the money at once.The IMF loan, approved on September 26, is designed to support Bosnia’s economic programme for the next two years, ease the effects of the “external environment …

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Macedonian Media Moguls in Politics Face Deadline

MPs who also own TV and radio stations have until the end of the month to choose between keeping their political careers or their media outlets.Boris Stojmenov, MP and head of the small VMRO-Macedonian party, which is part of Nikola Gruevski’s government, has until September 30 to decide whether to …

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War Veterans Cancel ’Shame Parade’

The Serbian war veteran association has canceled its “Shame Parade“, saying they do not want to be manipluated by the politicans.When Serbia’s LGBT community announced that it would hold its annual ‘Pride Parade’ on October 6, the Serbian war veterans said that they wanted to take advantage of the media …

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EU Boosts Regional Cooperation in the Balkans

More than 700 EU backed cross-regional projects aimed at helping reconciliation and improving the economy have been conducted in Serbia and neighbouring countries.Serbia is currently cooperating with seven neighbouring countries – Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Croatia- on various issues including ecology, education and agriculture.

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