The US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Michael Hammer, on Friday urged Macedonia and Greece to step up activities leading to a solution to the long-standing ‘name’ dispute.”The United States would like to see the issue resolved so that Macedonia joins NATO as soon as possible. Again, we …

Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party says it will intensify the fight against corruption even if it leads to the fall of the coalition government and a new election.Nebojsa Stefanovic, speaker of parliament and deputy president of the ruling Progressives, said his party would risk a new general election if it felt …

Bosnia made scant progress on its EU path as its politicians have little interest in furthering the rule of law or transparency, analysts say, after Brussels delivered its critical report.Laws on the Census and on State Aid were the only significant legislative moves that Bosnia made over the last year …

A new bill presented on Wednesday to mark Albania’s 100 years of independence will grant an amnesty to prisoners serving sentences of less than two years.The bill, which is expected to be voted on soon in parliament, will release all prisoners serving less than two years in jail.

After being shunned for two years in a row, Albania expects to obtain EU candidate status on Wednesday, though such a recommendation will likely come with a host of conditions.The European Commission is expected this week to recommend granting EU candidate status to Albania, “considering the improvement in the political …

Bulgaria and Romania are still exchanging accusations ahead of the planned opening of a new Danube bridge.Romanian and Bulgarian officials are still trading complaints ahead of the expected opening of a long-awaited bridge connecting the two countries.

Infrastructure Minister may face a corruption probe concerning a case involving the issue of illegal permits.Milutin Mrkonjic, Slobodan Milosevic’s favourite builder in the 1990s and Serbia’s Infrastructure Minister, will be the next target in the government’s fight against corruption, Balkan Insight has learned from two independent sources.

As the government launches a corruption probe against former minister Oliver Dulic, parliament has lifted his immunity from prosecution.Oliver Dulic, former Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, has received a call for a hearing on Wednesday from the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. This comes after parliament on Monday lifted …

A report released on Monday by the Open Society Foundation in Tirana says Albania strengthened the planning and implementation of EU reform priorities in 2012.The report said that by October 2012, 46 per cent of Albania’s EU reform commitments had been totally implemented and 32 per cent had been partially …

There is no possibility whatsoever of the UK introducing visas for Bulgarians, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, said on Monday.Mladenov has reminded that all EU labour restrictions for Bulgarian citizens will be lifted in 2014.