UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Kosovo officials that “Kosovo institutions should coordinate their activities with the international missions”. Ban said they should “coordinate with KFOR and EULEX in establishing peace in north Kosovo” – according to a statement issued in Priština.

EU candidate Turkey has again threatened to freeze relations with the bloc over the thorny topic of Cyprus. Ankara is angry at plans to give internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot authorities the EU’s rotating presidency next July.

Just after EP gave green light for Moldova’s prospects of joining the EU, Jerzy Buzek said: “Today, we specifically underlined Moldova’s EU perspectives. The perspective offered to Moldova by the Council, the Commission and the EEAS would encourage the country to pursue reforms”, he said. 

On October 6-7, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will have a tour of South Caucasus, with visits to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The meetings with the South Caucasus states are expected to focus on cooperation perspectives and improvement of bilateral ties.

The Greek government prepared for crisis talks with European and International Monetary Fund officials Monday amid intensifying fears of potential default after euro-zone finance ministers last week further delayed a decision on the nation’s next round of financial aid.

All major roads in northern Kosovo remain blocked but the situation remains calm following the deployment of EU police and Kosovo customs officials to border crossings with Serbia last Friday. Serbs in northern Kosovo have strengthened barricades on major roads and are reportedly refusing to remove them until Kosovo police …

The Netherlands will “work against” Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen Agreement, the country’s Immigration Minister Gerd Leers promised late on Thursday evening. Neither Bulgaria nor Romania is doing enough to combat corruption, Leers reportedly told

Romania and the United States signed a missile defence agreement during President Traian Basescu’s visit to Washington on Tuesday (September 13th). The accord is being widely hailed in Bucharest as a major security breakthrough. It was signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Romanian counterpart, Foreign Affairs …

The visit, just one day before Pristina and EULEX resume customs and police control over the northern border gates 1 and 31, prompted Serbs in Northern Kosovo to block the main roads with make-shift barricades, as well as the main bridge over the Ibar that connects the ethnically divided city …

The first trucks entered Kosovo from Serbia through the Merdare border in Podujevo, 30km northeast of Pristina, on Friday (September 16th), as the agreement on customs stamps was initiated. According to EULEX, the agreement was the last missing piece needed to relaunch a proper customs system. Kosovo became a single …