Balkan News

FOR months the opinion polls suggested that Albania’s election would be close. Most pundits said they were wrong, because respondents were giving unreliable answers. Now Albanian opinion polling has come of age. So close was the June 28th election that, four days later, the result was still unclear. Albania faces …

TIRANA – Albania’s opposition Socialist Party said on Thursday it was premature for any party to claim victory ahead of the final results of the country’s election the ruling Democratic Party has already claimed it has won. Prime Minister Sali Berisha said he would wait for the Central Election Commission …

SOFIA Bulgarian government in line with the European Commission requirements must make connections with gas systems of Romania and Greece as soon as possible. This is what chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Digless Technology Eng. Stefan Zhelyazkov said.

TIRANA, Albania Vote counting has hit a snag due to serious disagreements between the major political parties in a couple of regions. The Central Election Commission (CEC) says that with 98% of votes tallied, the ruling coalition headed by the Democratic Party (DP) won 70 of the 140 seats in …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands The war crimes trial against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will not start before September, tribunal Judge Ian Bonomy said on Wednesday (July 1st). Karadzic, however, rejected and said the date is too soon because reviewing materials related to the case would take “several months”.

ATHENS, Greece A strong earthquake registering 5.9 on the Richter scale was registered south of the island of Crete on Wednesday (July 1st). The epicentre was 30km deep in the Mediterranean Sea, about 450km southeast of Athens. A second quake, registering 4.5, occurred several minutes later. No injuries or damage …

WASHINGTON, United State Democracy watchdog Freedom House said on Tuesday (June 30th) that democratic development in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania is stable, while a drop is seen in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In its 13th report on “Nations in Transit”, the organisation described 2008 as a generally …

BELGRADE, Serbia Though voting is more than four months away, President Boris Tadic said on Wednesday (July 1st) no protections are in place for the Serb minority to participate in Kosovo’s November local elections. Nor, he said, would there be any guarantee that Serbs would have any legitimacy in Kosovo …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands Prosecutors from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia and Serbia arrived at the UN war crimes tribunal Wednesday (July 1st) for a six-month programme in which they will work alongside colleagues from The Hague. Welcoming them, tribunal chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz described it as a “new phase” …

Albania’s Democratic Party claimed victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections with 99 per cent of the ballots counted. “Our coalition was certified by the people,” Prime Minister Sali Berisha, head of the party, told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “EU integration will be the most important issue in the next four …