Balkan News

“There cannot be a start of EU accession negotiations without a prior resolution of the name issue,” Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said. Droutsas’ remarks appear on the Greek foreign ministry’s website. “It is in the hands of the FYROM government and Mr. Gruevski himself to abandon their intransigent …

Slovenian Interior Minister Katarina Kresal said on Tuesday that Slovenia wants Macedonia to join the European Union as soon as possible and her country will support Macedonia’s EU entry bid. Visiting Slovenian Minister Kristina Kresal and Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska signed a grant agreement on behalf of their countries. …

Albanian President Bamir Topi expressed willingness to help his country overcome the political crisis. Commenting the protest rallies staged by opposition Socialist Party, President Topi said he was ready to broker the talks between the opposition and the government in order to bridge the impasse, but he stressed that consent …

Serbia will never recognize the border demarcation agreement signed by Macedonia and Kosovo, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Tuesday. He made the remarks during a visit to Leskovac.

European Parliament gave its backing on Tuesday for €400 million-plus in budget aid to Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Georgia. The funds are to help these countries to finance their external balances of payments and state budget deficits.

Bulgarian Prime Minister (PM) Boyko Borisov will open the Annual International Defense and Security Business Conference that will be held on November 24 and 25. The Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism and the Ministry of Defense will host the conference devoted to the offsent program. The discussion on the …

Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov is on a three-day official visit to Greece starting November 24 2009 through to November 26 on an invitation from his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, a Government media statement said on November 24 2009. Both heads of state are set to hold talks with their respective …

Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said that Serbia’s economy and the country’s children are bearing the brunt of the consequences of the fact that the two outstanding war crimes fugitives have yet to be caught and sent to the Hague Tribunal.

The European Commission has high hopes from the forthcoming Athens-Skopje high level talks slated for Friday, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told media. The two countries’ Prime Ministers, Greece’s George Papandreou and Macedonia’s Nikola Gruevski, are expected to discuss modalities that should ultimately lead to the lifting of a Greek blockade …

The prime ministers of neighboring Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, will convene on Friday to talk about ways of resolving their 18 years long name row. The two will convene at the sidelines of a trilateral climate change meeting between Albania, Macedonia and Greece which will take …