Balkan News

The Croatian Ministry of Justice believes that significant steps have been taken in prosecuting war crimes, while some NGOs claim that additional efforts are needed. Vesna Terselic, director of the Zagreb-based Documenta Centre, said that around 700 cases had filed to the state prosecution in the

The Appellate Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, rejected on Thursday Radovan Karadzic’s request to delay his trial until June 2010. The decision about the date the trial will resume should be made shortly; it is expected that it will continue within the next several …

Progress has been made in talks to reunify Cyprus, leaders of the two communities on the divided island said after meeting Tuesday (March 30th). The session was the last ahead of a break for presidential elections in the Turkish-dominated north, scheduled for April 18th. “After many meetings … we are …

EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon wants to serve another mandate. He said that he would like to serve another two years after his current mandate expires in June. De Kermabon reiterated that EULEX is in Kosovo to help local institutions strengthen the rule of law, but described the current fight …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele reiterated on Tuesday (March 30th) his concerns about the ongoing political stalemate in Albania. The deadlock is between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the opposition Socialist Party (SP). “I expressed concern about the stability of democratic institutions and the lack of political dialogue in …

he Bulgarian parliament has voted down the motion for President Georgi Parvanov’s impeachment. 155 MPs voted in favor of and 72 against the draft decision that requests President Georgi Parvanov should be charged and suggests

UN Mediator in Macedonian-Greek name row Matthew Nimetz has announced a new meeting with Macedonian officials toward mid-April, FM Milososki said. “Mr. Nimetz announced to come and meet with us towards mid-April. We are ready for his visit as we always are”, FM Milososki said.

European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said that the European Commission is status-neutral on the issue of Kosovo. He said that the EC believes that a “European perspective exists for both Serbia and Kosovo”.

After 13 hours of debate on Tuesday, the Serbian parliament adopted the declaration condemning the 1995 Srebrenica crime. The declaration condemned the crime against Bosniak (Muslim) residents of the town in the way determined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The rapporteur for Albania in the European Parliament’s (EP) Foreign Affairs Commission, Nikolaos Chountis, said on Monday (March 29th) that there are no barriers preventing the country from EU visa liberalisation. During a visit to Tirana, officials briefed Chountis on progress made on basic