Balkan News

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić says that Belgrade will not recognize Kosovo as independent regardless of the ICJ opinion. “Serbia will not accept the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo,” he told a group of reporters in Washington.

Croatian President Ivo Josipović will spend today and Friday in Montenegro on an official visit. In Podgorica, he is due to meet with his counterpart Filip Vujanović, and Montenegro’s parliament speaker and prime minister, Ranko Krivokapić and Milo Đukanović.

The doors of the European Union will remain open for new members, which hope to join EU, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said. There are many future member states which hope to join EU amid

Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas represented Greece as an advocate for the Western Balkans EU integration, and pointed out that solving name dispute is the main condition for Macedonia’s EU integration, Greek ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

Bulgaria should receive its first natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan in 2011, agreed the presidents of the two countries, Georgi Parvanov and Ilham Aliyev. Parvanov went to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku Wednesday on a two-day state visit focused precisely on gas supplies talks and energy security. He is returning a visit

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, on the eve of his country’s handover of the rotating EU presidency to Belgium, has reiterated Brussels’ stance that Pristina and Belgrade should start a dialogue and discuss practical issues.

The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board gathered on Tuesday (June 29th) in Sarajevo for a two-day meeting. After a briefing from Security Minister Sadik Ahmetovic about Sunday’s pre-dawn attack on a police station in Bugojno that killed a police officer, the Board condemned it as “an attack … on …

Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) leader Ilir Meta on Tuesday (June 29th) urged political leaders to start strengthening electoral legislation, to ensure small parties get more representation. “Discussions need to be wide and all inclusive,” he said. Meta’s SMI only managed to win a handful of seats in parliament in …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov will pay a working visit to Azerbaijan on June 30 and July 1, the press office of the presidency announced. Visit of the Bulgarian head of state is at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev in response to his working visit in Sofia in November 2009. 

Macedonia must boost reforms in several areas if it hopes not to spoil last year’s positive report from the European Commission that contained a recommendation for the start of its EU accession talks. This is what EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele conveyed on Tuesday in Brussels to his guest, Macedonia’s …