Balkan News

Bulgaria’s ambassador in Washington, Luchezar Petkov, had resigned, President Georgi Purvanov confirmed on Tuesday. Petkov’s resignation followed the announcement on 13 November that the ambassador in Ankara, Branimir Mladenov, has also resigned. Both have been at the centre of a stand-off between Boiko Borisov’s government and President Georgi Purvanov. Borisov …

Russian Minister of Energy Sergey Shmatko expects problems in the work with the Bulgarian government on Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project. The Minister made this statement at a regular sitting of the State Duma (lower chamber of the Russian Parliament), while answering a question about perspectives on realization of Russia’s projects …

The International Court of Justice, ICJ, on Wednesday continued hearings into the legality of Kosovo’s controversial decision to break away from Serbia. Serbia, Kosovo and 29 UN member states, including the US and Russia, are over the next days unveiling their arguments to the Court. The hearings, which run until …

The European Union and Bosnia signed on Tuesday an agreement on an anti-crisis package for the Balkan country worth 39 million euros. “This is a solidarity package which will enable Bosnia to overcome and respond to the global economic crisis,” the head of the European Union delegation to Bosnia Dimitris …

The spiritual leader of Bosnia’s Muslims Mustafa Ceric said that Switzerland’s ban on building minarets is a violation of basic human rights and a sign that Europe is in deep moral crisis. Ceric said that on the day of one of the two greatest Muslim holidays, Eid-al-Adha, Switzerland sent a …

The Macedonian Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki will attend the 17-th OSCE Ministerial meeting, which will take place in Athens December 1-2. Milososki will give a speech at the Ministerial meeting and he is expected to hold bilateral talks with other countries’ foreign ministers.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will meet EC President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday December 2. According to previous announcements, the meeting was confirmed after prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou met on Friday in the Greek part of Prespa region.

The governments of Russia and Serbia are in negotiations to build a nuclear power plant in Serbia, the Russian ambassador to Belgrade says.

Serbia expects that those EU member-states which do not belong to the Schengen Area will also lift their visa requirements for the Serbian citizens. This is according to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić, who said that his statement “primarily regards Serbia’s neighbors Romania and Bulgaria”.

“When Croatia joins the EU it shall support Serbia joining the EU, too. My country shall in no way block the European path of any of the countries in the region”, Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic said. Croatia believes that the inclusion of the entire region in the EU is strategic …