International representatives are stepping up pressure for a last-minute compromise to end Macedonia’s political crisis and re-start the stalled EU accession process.In a final attempt to end Macedonia’s politicial crisis, the European Parliament rapporteur on Macedonia, Richard Howitt, is due to arrive in Skopje on Thursday. He already visited the …

Bulgaria’s parliament on Wednesday confirmed a decision to abandon the Belene nuclear power plant project.The vote in parliament was prompted by a recent referendum on the construction of a new nuclear power plant, which put the Belene project back on parliament’s agenda, as the voter turnout exceeded 20 per cent. …

Serbs in the Croatian city are growing fearful amid threats of force to stop the official introduction of Cyrillic script and the Serbian language, a Belgrade official said.Serbs in Vukovar are feeling “growing insecurity”, the director of Serbia’s office for the diaspora, Slavka Draskovic, said during a visit to Zagreb …

The Bosnian prime minister said there was only one disputed piece of territory to be demarcated before the ex-Yugoslav states sign a crucial border agreement. Vjekoslav Bevanda and Milo Djukanovic, the prime ministers of Bosnia and Montenegro , said a deal was close after they met on Tuesday in Podgorica. “There …

As the EU-led dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is set to resume on March 4, the two sides have made some advances on Serb-run northern Kosovo while areas of disagreement remain. In a meeting on Tuesday with the Kosovo President, Atifete Jahjaga, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the two sides had …

A party representing war veterans has launched a campaign for a public vote to dismiss former ethnic Albanian fighter Talat Xhaferi from his new job as Macedonia’s defence chief.The small opposition party Dignity announced on Tuesday that it will start gathering the 150,000 signatures needed to support the referendum initiative …

War veterans associations have vowed to prevent the official introduction of Cyrillic script and the Serbian language into the Croatian city “by any means necessary”.“We will prevent the introduction of Cyrillic street signs, and the government should be held responsible for all possible undesirable events,” the Headquarters for the Defence …

The Social Democrat-led opposition has snubbed the government’s latest compromise proposal for overcoming the political crisis, calling it ‘hypocrisy’.Social Democrats on Monday said that the proposal for a one-week postponement of local elections slated for March 24 – giving them more time to submit lists of candidates – was hypocritical. …

Metropolitan Neofit of Ruse has been elected the new patriarch of Bulgaria’s Orthodox church amid social unrest which hit the country in recent weeks.In a secret ballot on Sunday, the 14 bishops that make up the holy synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Christian church chose the 67-year-old Metropolitan Neofit from …

The opposition led by the Social Democrats says it wants to cancel the results of the March local elections which it has already vowed to boycott.In a five-point declaration adopted at a convention this weekend in the town of Kumanovo, the opposition gathered around the Social Democrats said it would …