Balkan News

Bulgaria’s parliament is scheduled to debate on Friday a a declaration demanding that President Georgi Parvanov recall the Bulgarian ambassadors to Turkey and the United States. The center-right ruling GERB party, far-right ‘Ataka’, the rightist Blue Coalition and the conservative ‘Law, Order, Justice’ party (RZS) submitted on Wednesday the declaration, …

On Nov. 13, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s one-day working visit to the Republic of Bulgaria ended. An honor guard was built at the international airport of Sofia in honor of the President of Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev was accompanied by high-ranking officials and government representatives of Bulgaria.

The spokesperson of Kosovo Police Service for the region of Gnjilane, Ismet Hasani, confirmed that Serbia and Montenegro nationals need a passport to enter Kosovo as of 12 November. 

US Ambassador in Tirana John L Withers called on Prime Minister Sali Berisha and opposition leader Edi Rama to find common ground and resolve the politcal row that has engulfed the country since the 28 June parliamentary elections. “Our position (on the parliamentary boycott) is that it would really be …

“Not a single war crime I have processed so far was committed without a robbery,” says Serbia’s War Crime Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević. In an article published by Belgrade daily Danas, Vukčević stressed that war crimes and organized crime were “two faces of the same freak”.

The official welcome offered to Biljana Plavsic, recently released from prison having being convicted for war crimes by the UN’s War Crimes Tribunal, in the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia Republika Srpska has sparked outrage, prompting some victims of the country’s 1992-95 war to accuse Bosnian Serb leadership of fascism. “Unfortunately, …

President Boris Tadić says he has received support from Italy for Greek PM Giorgios Papandreu’s plan to have all Western Balkan countries in EU in 2014. “Serbia considers EU membership to be an irreplaceable strategic goal and we expect that the Greek plan and the plan of its prime minister, …

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu has called on the Kosovo Serbs to vote in the local elections scheduled for Nov. 15. “I once again call on representatives of all communities, in this case the Serb community as well, to be active in this process, which primarily concerns the exercising of their …

Greece’s representative made it clear to the UN envoy that there can be no launch of Macedonia’s EU accession talks without prior resolution of the long-running issue over the name. UN mediator on the name issue Matthew Nimetz had a working dinner with Greece’s negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis on Thursday evening. …

Montenegro’s government will soon establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo. Gjukanovic said that recognizing Kosovo independence urges Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry to establish complete diplomatic relations and ambassador exchange. He said that complete establishment of diplomatic relations between Podgorica and Pristina won’t worsen Montenegro and Serbia diplomatic relations.