Balkan News

European Parliament Vice President Miguel Angel Martinez shares the conviction and optimism of Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos that Macedonia will start the talks

Greece will not quit on the resolution of the name dispute as a condition for start of the neighboring country’s EU accession talks, Alexandar Mallias, a former Greek ambassador to Macedonia said on Thursday. Alexandar Mallias reckons that name Republic of North Macedonia to replace

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern about Kosovo’s strategy to integrate the country’s ethnically divided north. In a report to the Security Council, the U.N. chief warned that tensions in the region could increase unless the government of Kosovo acts with transparency and in consultation with local communities. …

Bulgaria should return on the Balkans as EU member state. This means that we must be more active and constructive in our aid for the Western Balkans in their effort to solve the conflicts and become part of the European family, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov said. 

The State Prosecution in Montenegro has indicted seven people on charges of war crimes in Bukovica, in the Sandzak region of Montenegro. The indictment was filed at the High Court in Bijelo Polje with a request for the arrest and detention of all seven indictees.

Turkey’s efforts to normalise relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia continue as Istanbul is set to host on Saturday the first trilateral presidential-level meeting of the three countries. The three are expected to discuss the strengthening of peace and stability in the Balkans.

The foreign ministers of NATO’s member states have gathered in Tallinn, Estonia, for a two-day meeting during which they are set to discuss when the alliance should extend a Membership Action Plan to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The informal meeting of foreign ministers will cover a

Bulgaria’s Parliament has established formal relations with the Assembly of Kosovo after the head of the latter visited Sofia on Wednesday, Novinite reports. The Chair of the Kosovo Assembly, Jakup Krasniqi, met with his Bulgarian counterpart, Tsetska Tsacheva, during an official visit abroad by a Kosovo parliamentary delegation.

Presenting his 30-page defence of charges of organising the murder of Ivo Pukanic, publisher of the Croatian weekly Nacional, suspected crime boss Sreten Jocic, aka Joca Amsterdam, said he had “no motive” to commit the crime. Speaking at the beginning of the trial before the Special Court in Belgrade on …

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that Spain is ready to continue to offer help to Serbia on its path to European integration. “Spain will invest all possible efforts to speed up Serbia’s European Union association,” Moratinos said after meeting with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremić on Wednesday in …