Balkan News

Germany’s government says it will keep up to 2,500 troops in Kosovo for at least another year as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission. Government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said the Cabinet approved extending the mandate while also cutting the maximum number of soldiers by 1,000 from 3,000. He says Germany …

Kosovo Albanian government’s Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni says Priština is ready to participate in the Western Balkans-EU conference in Sarajevo. But Kosovo Albanian officials, he explained, wish to have an “equal status”.

Radovan Karadzic once again questioned facts established previously by the ICTY regarding the massacre at the Markale market during the Bosnian war, in an apparent effort to get confirmation from the prosecution witness that the incident was staged by the Bosnian government.

Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, has showed his support for the strengthening of the state institutions in Kosovo so as “to protect the rights of all ethnic communities.” Mladenov was speaking after meeting with his counterpart in Pristina Skender Hyseni and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci, as part of his …

Speaker of the Montenegrin parliament Ranko Krivokapić stated that Serbia was “not capable of organizing a good state meeting”. “As far as I’m concerned, my visit to Serbia was finished on May 8 and 9 and I will invite my counterpart to come to Montenegro because I reckon that Serbia …

Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Bramerc will kick off his 2-day visit to Belgrade on Wednesday. His visit is in the course of the preparations for submitting the regular report on UN Security Council towards mid-June. His assessment on Belgrade’s cooperation will have impact on whether EU will ratify the …

The European Commission’s (EC) assessment of Montenegro’s EU membership application will be completed by autumn, the EC Head of Delegation in Podgorica, Leopold Maurer, said on Monday (May 10th). He pointed out that based on this opinion, EU leaders will decide by year end whether to offer candidate status. Podgorica …

Local media are reporting that EULEX officials will investigate six more ministries from the current and past government for misuse of state funds. Klan Kosova TV quoted sources Monday (May 10th) who said that the education ministry will be scrutinised in relation to tenders for the construction of new schools. …

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan will arrive on a two-day working visit in Greece on May 14. The first session of the Turkish-Greek strategic cooperation council will take place, during the visit. The session will be co-chaired by Erdogan and by his Greek counterpart Georgios Papandreou. The Turkish delegation will …

The NATO-led Kosovo force (KFOR) kicked off a two-day exercise in central part of Kosovo, including the capital Pristina. Exercises involving KFOR maneuver forces from Multinational Battle Group Centre (MNBG-C) and Multinational Battle Group South (MNBG-S) will be conducted in central part of Kosovo on May 11-12.