Balkan News

Leaders of the main political parties agreed on Friday (March 26th) that the arbitration border agreement with Croatia will be submitted to a binding referendum, once parliament ratifies the document. The Constitutional Court endorsed the agreement with Zagreb last week, giving parliament the green light to ratify the deal. Croatia …

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou late Thursday hailed as a “very satisfactory decision” a European move to extend a rescue package to debt-laden Athens, in comments to Greek public television. “Europe has taken a step forward … Europe and Greece will emerge stronger from this crisis,” Papandreou said.

A European Union office is set to be opened today in the northern, mostly Serb part of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica. The office’s main goal, it was announced, will be to promote EU values and lower tensions in this part of Kosovo. The office, dubbed “EU House”, …

The foreign ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia agreed to intensify cooperation. This would come with the aim of solving the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons, a problem which has not been resolved in any one of those countries, a joint statement said.

Serbian President Boris Tadić will meet with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in Brussels on Friday. The president will on Saturday attend the Brussels Forum 2010 conference in the Belgian capital, his press service said today in Belgrade. Tadić will also talk with EU …

MACEDONIA Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated his country’s support to Macedonia’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic community as well as to good relations between Macedonia and Turkey. Davutoglu held talks with his Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki on Friday. The two reaffirmed the good political, economic and cultural ties between …

Cancelarul german a declarat, miercuri, in cadrul unei interventii in parlament, ca la reuniunea Consiliului European de primavara, care se desfasoara joi si vineri la Bruxelles, va insista ca Fondul Monetar International (FMI) sa participe si el la un eventual spijin acordat autoritatilor de la Atena, alaturi de statele din …

There were no breakthroughs in the Athens-Skopje name gridlock after the prime ministers of the two countries, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, met on Thursday in Brussels. “The positions of Macedonia and Greece on the name issue in general remain far apart even after today’s meeting,” Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Antonio …

The European Union-backed gas pipeline Nabucco is likely to begin operations in 2018, European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said, a statement which was later denied by the consortium behind the project. “I hope we will make the final decision in 2010 to build the pipeline,” he said. The odds of …

The European Commission (EC) will publish a report on April 15th regarding Albania’s progress in meeting criteria for EU visa liberalisation. A similar evaluation will be made for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH); a high-ranking EC official was quoted as saying on Wednesday (March 24th). Brussels has reportedly urged officials in …