Balkan News

EU: Belgrade and Pristina Must Make Amends

Pieter Feith, the EU’s Special Envoy to Kosovo, says neither Belgrade nor Pristina will be able to realise their EU dreams unless they mend relations. “I’m not saying that Belgrade needs to recognise Kosovo’s independence, but there has to exist at least minimal cooperation between the two sides on issues …

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EU Wants Passport Guarantees from Serbia

The European Commission has expressed concern about the way Serbia issues its identification documents, and is concerned that passports could be given out to “all and sundry”, the Blic newspaper reports. The paper says that as a further guarantee for visa liberalisation, Brussels wants Serbia’s passport issuance system to become …

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Serbia: SNS Calls for New Elections

The right wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) launched a campaign for early parliamentary elections at a rally held in Nis Wednesday, calling it “Serbia’s Future Begins Today”. The SNS at the rally claimed it was going to stand for getting tougher on crime and corruption, promote decentralisation of government, and …

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Austrian EVN Sues Macedonia

The Austrian power utility company EVN, Wednesday confirmed it has filed a law suit against Macedonia at the Washington based International Arbitrary Court. EVN is suing the state for impeding their work in Macedonia as the main power supplier. The company has not disclosed damages they are demanding. “At a …

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Pahor`s Conditional `Yes` Inacceptable For EU

Slovene politicians have finally agreed on amendments necessary for Slovenia to accept the proposal of European Union expansion commissioner Olli Rehn, but not many believe that Pahor`s terms will be acceptable for the European Commission and Croatia, Slovene press assessed on Wednesday. Furthermore, Olli Rehn`s spokesperson Krisztina Nagy reiterated that …

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ICG highlights problems of Kosovo Serbs

PRISTINA, Kosovo Integrating the Serb minority remains the chief challenge facing Kosovo more than a year after Pristina declared its independence, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report Tuesday (May 12th). According to the document, Belgrade has channelled substantial funds into Serb municipalities, but with limited results. Parallel …

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Loss of Srebrenica Victims’ Possessions Shocks Families

Relatives of those massacred in 1995 are dismayed by reports that their loved ones’ exhumed possessions may since have been destroyed without their permission. Families of the men and boys killed in Srebrenica are in uproar over claims that personal things taken by ICTY investigators from mass graves located in …

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Glavas Arrested in Bosnia

Police in Bosnia took war crimes fugitive Branimir Glavas into custody following a decision on Tuesday by Croatia to issue an international arrest warrant. Glavas’ Bosnian attorney Nikic Grzic confirmed for Croatian television HTV that Glavas is to be taken to Sarajevo before noon Wednesday, in order to determine whether …

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Serbia, Gazprom to Sign South Stream Deal

Serbia’s state owned gas company will on Friday sign an agreement with Russian gas giant Gazprom for the construction of a part of the South Stream gas pipeline that will go through Serbia. General Director of Srbijagas Dusan Bajatovic said he will sign the agreement with the president of Gazprom …

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