Balkan News

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn also said Croatia could still wrap up entry talks with the EU this year. The European Union may decide this year on offering visa-free travel to citizens of some Western Balkan countries and on opening membership talks with Macedonia, the EU’s enlargement chief said on Tuesday. …

PODGORICA, Montenegro – Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic’s coalition won an absolute majority in Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections, the Central Electoral Commission announced on Monday (March 30th). For a European Montenegro won 51.09% of the vote, translating to 48 of the 81 seats in parliament. The opposition Socialist People’s Party was …

WASHINGTON, United States – As required, all NATO member states sent the US State Department their ratified documents regarding Croatia and Albania’s entry into the Alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer confirmed on Monday (March 30th). Portugal and Slovenia were the last two countries to comply. De Hoop Scheffer …

ATHENS, Greece – Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis has rejected an initiative by Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki aimed at improving strained relations between the two neighbours, media reported on Monday (March 30th). In a letter to Bakoyannis on March 13th, Milososki suggested that the two countries should overcome their differences by …

VIENNA, Austria – Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Monday (March 30th) he does not expect his country’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU to be implemented any time soon. It hinges on arresting war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic. At a meeting with Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger …

PRISTINA, Kosovo – EULEX has taken over an organ trafficking case that allegedly victimised Serbs in 1999, local media reported on Tuesday (March 31st). EULEX officials said they have received a file from Serb judicial authorities, in which prosecutors argue that the Kosovo Liberation Army removed the

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – The issuing of biometric passports will begin on December 31st, BiH’s Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange announced on Monday (March 30th). A German company won the bid for providing the passports and signed a contract with the government last month. The …

LONDON, the United Kingdom – The international human rights watchdog Amnesty International accused Greek police of using excessive force and violating the rights of demonstrators in a report released on Monday (March 30th).

TIRANA, Albania – Running democratic elections that comply with international standards will be the best way for Albania to divide its historic and political past from the future, President Bamir Topi said on Monday (March 30th).

The Serbian government has done its utmost to enact necessary laws for Serbia to accede to the Schengen “white list” by the end of 2009, says the European Integration Office. European Integration Office Director Milica Delevic told B92 that a special migration management strategy and three action plans were required …