BRUSSELS, Belgium Turkey and the EU opened negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday (June 30th) on a new chapter — the one on taxation — as part of Ankara’s EU accession process. The taxation chapter is the eleventh opened so far. Turkey’s chief negotiator, Egemen Bagis, told a news conference that …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Ivica Bocevski resigned on Tuesday (June 30th), telling Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that he has done all he can. “Each generation has its own battle for Macedonia, and my generation had to fight for European and Euro-Atlantic Macedonia,” read a letter to …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said in a letter to The Hague war crimes tribunal on Tuesday (June 30th) that he is not guilty of the 11 counts in the indictment against him. Karadzic, who faces charges of genocide, murder and torture stemming from the …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Court of BiH on Tuesday (June 30th) sentenced a former member of the Serb military police to seven and a half years in prison for murdering and torturing non-Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 conflict. Earlier, defendant Rade Veselinovic pleaded guilty to murdering one civilian …

NICOSIA, Cyprus An oil exploration dispute between Turkey and Cyprus will not undermine ongoing efforts by the two Cypriot communities to reunify the island, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said on Tuesday (June 30th). The dispute is a commercial and legal matter and should have no impact …

ANKARA, Turkey The defence ministry said on Tuesday (June 30th) it has started talks with the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency on a project to clear land mines from the country’s border with Syria. The announcement came amid heated public debate on who should complete the task. The army and …

NICOSIA, Cyprus Washington hopes the two Cypriot communities will make an “historic breakthrough” this year to end the island’s division, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said on Monday (June 29th) during a visit to Nicosia.

CHISINAU. More than 230 observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/ will monitor the early parliamentary elections in Moldova, RBC announced.

In testimony lasting several hours, Damir Ivankovic recalls in detail the crime committed in August 1992 at Koricanske stijene. “I fired a single burst, but not to the end. I moved on the sides, careful not to hit any members of the special response team. I did not use the …

Bosnia and Herzegovina is hopeful that a compromise has been reached with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, which would allow this financial institution to activate a Euro 1.2 billion stand-by arrangement for the country. “The IMF is finally satisfied,” reads a front page article in the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje on …