Albania

The Swedish government announced Thursday, January 21, it would open 10 new embassies, including in the Republic of Moldova, to strengthen Sweden’s presence in the countries which benefit from Swedish aid programs. Besides Moldova, Swedish embassies will open in Albania, Kosovo, Georgia and a number of African countries. At the …

FM Vuk Jeremić today in Belgrade addressed a recently announced plan of “integration” of northern, Serb parts of Kosovo into Priština’s institutions. Speaking after his meeting with Czech Deputy PM Jan Kohout, Jeremić said this was a provocation coming from the “illegal International Civilian Office (ICO) and the illegal institutions …

Serbian President Boris Tadić will not travel to Zagreb in February for the inauguration of Croatia’s new president, Ivo Josipović. Tadić will not attend the ceremony because the Kosovo Albanian president, Fatmir Sejdiu, confirmed he would be there. Previously, Tadić said that taking part in the event along with Sejdiu …

Council of Europe special rapporteur Dick Marty is visiting Kosovo regarding the alleged crimes of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army in north Albania. Marty arrived in Kosovo on Monday afternoon, that he will stay until Wednesday, and that two investigators have come along with him.

Montenegro and Kosovo have established diplomatic ties with an exchange of letters of foreign ministers, the government in Podgorica announced today. Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Roćen said in his letter that he expects the position of the Montenegrin community in Kosovo to be permanently solved, and that as this issue …

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek called on Albania’s opposition to return to parliament. He made the remarks after the talks with Albanian Parliament President Josephina Topalli. He noted that this is an internal matter of a sovereign country.

Serbian President Boris Tadić said on Tuesday that he expects the negotiations on the status of Kosovo to continue after the ICJ ruling. The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to give its advisory opinion this year on the legality of the February 2008 unilateral independence declaration, made …

The Kosovo government and political parties in Priština reject all possibilities of new status negotiations with Serbia regarding the status of Kosovo. Kosovo Albanian government spokesman Memli Krasniqi said that “the Kosovo government will never agree to negotiations with Belgrade regarding Kosovo’s status. The status of our country is irreversible.”

Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos said on Friday (January 8th) that Spain will continue talks on the EU accession of Balkan countries. Moratinos, who will preside over the European Foreign Policy Council over the next six months said that talks with Croatia will continue. Four more chapters in Turkey’s EU accession …

The European Commission (EC) announced on Friday (January 8th) that Albania has requested activation of the European Civil Protections Mechanism to help it cope with floods caused by torrential rains and melting snows. The mechanism was activated late Thursday, the EC said in a statement. Albania has requested boats and …