Balkan News

Bulgaria’s government will withdraw most of the country’s rangers in the NATO security mission in Afghanistan with only 160 of them remaining there by the end of 2014, Defense Minister, Anyu Angelov, has confirmed. A total of 600 Bulgarian soldiers and medical staff are currently stationed in Afghanistan in Kabul …

A Belgrade based far right group has requested that all the country’s NGOs and media funded from abroad, including BIRN, be labelled as “foreign agents”, based on a Russian model.On Friday, the Serbian far-right movement “SNP Nasi” called on the authorities to pass a law that would label all NGOs …

Around two hundred Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, veterans protested in Pristina demanding the release of their ex commander, Fatmir Limaj and three other ex comrades, all defendants in the Klecka case.Shouting “KLA, KLA, KLA” and “Freedom for liberators”, the protesters held photos of Limaj and banners highlighting their request in …

The Montenegrin authorities have issued a warning because of the bad weather which is expected over the weekend.The forecast predicts that on Saturday the country will be hit by a strong cyclone, which might bring heavy rainfall in the central and souther regions and snowfall in the north of the …

The Serbian Constitutional Court has received a letter with death threats addressed to the court’s judges and their families.An unknown group sent on Thursday a letter to the Serbian Constituational Court threatening to kill its 11 judges. “Based on the findings and declarations, the world’s pan-Serb alliance in defence of …

The print media in Romania are facing major drops in circulation as hard-pressed people cut out luxuries and news-hungry readers turn to the net.The circulation of most of Romania’s daily newspapers and weeklies has suffered dramatic falls in recent months, as the country struggles with an economic downturn, official data …

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that a meeting with his Serbian counterpart, Tomislav Nikolic, “would still not serve a purpose.”The Croatian leader was talking to Serbian broadcaster B92 as part of an exclusive interview that will be televised on Friday. Responding to questions about a possible meeting, Josipovic said …

At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia and Serbia slammed the recent Hague Tribunal acquittals while the ICTY Chief Prosecutor praised the cooperation with the countries in the region.Speaking on Wednesday at the bi annual meeting of the UN Security Council on work of the UN war crime …

The heads of states of Western Balkan countries have called for closer regional cooperation at their annual summit which was not attended by the Serbian president.This year’s regional summit on cooperation was held in Montenegro’s coastal town of Budva on Wednesday and was attended by the president of Montenegro, Filip …

Kosovo must address war time sexual violence in the law dealing with the rights of war victims, a round table organized by UN Women in Pristina concluded.Members of the round table, which discussed “The status and state of survivors of sexual violence during conflict,” called for the prosecution of all …