Balkan News

The UN war crimes tribunal on Friday (February 19th) rejected a request by Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj to drop all charges against him and terminate war crimes proceedings, due to the alleged violation of his rights as a defendant. Seselj based his request on the “doctrine of …

The European Union cannot request Serbia to recognize Kosovo, says an Austrian MEP. This is because the unilateral declaration of independence of Serbia’s southern province had not been recognized by some EU member-states, European parliament member and Vice-President of the Socialist group in the EP Hannes Svoboda has stated.

A delegation of U.S. senators, including George Voinovich [R-OH] and Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH], visited Belgrade on Thursday. They met with President Boris Tadić, and called for a partnership between Serbia and the U.S.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has welcomed Serbia’s EU membership application and stressed that cooperation with the UN war crimes court, ICTY, is central to Serbia’s further progress toward the EU. Speaking about Serbia’s EU integration at a press conference in Belgrade on Thursday, Ashton said that …

The International Court of Justice, ICJ, has set a deadline of December 20, 2010, for Croatia to submit its response to Serbia’s genocide countersuit. At the same time, the ICJ set a deadline of November 2011 for Serbia to reply to Croatia’s response.

Kosovo opened its embassy in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Friday, only two days after celebrating the second anniversary of its disputed declaration of independence from Serbia. “Croatia is very important to us, it provides a good model for us in terms of what we need to do to achieve …

Public administration officials have compiled answers to seven of the 35 chapters in the European Commission (EC) questionnaire, which is crucial to receiving EU candidate status. Answers on the free movement of workers, public procurement, fisheries, transport policies, economic and monetary policies, policies of trans-European transportation and customs were delivered …

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) President Mevlut Cavusoglu will head a delegation to assist President Bamir Topi in mediating political negotiations between the government and the opposition in the ongoing boycott of parliament. Cavusoglu’s delegation will support the process to restore political dialogue in Albania, the office …

NATO Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples Admiral Mark Fitzgerald said Thursday (February 18th) that NATO does not determine the future status of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF). “It is up to us to build the KSF. What local institutions do further with the forces, that is up to …

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that no Serbian officials will be attending the inauguration of new Croatian President Ivo Josipović.