Balkans

Macedonia’s election commission on Wednesday determined the order of presidential candidates on the March 22 ballot by drawing lots, while the candidates were already engaging in a harsh battle of words. New Democracy candidate Imer Selmani heads the list, followed by Miruse Hoxha from the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, …

A Montenegro government document on the country’s efforts on its path to join NATO shows Montenegro is about to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo, Podgorica-based daily Vijesti reported on Wednesday. Montenegro recognised Serbia’s former southern province as an independent country last October, leading to a chill in relations with Belgrade, …

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic will soon formalise his request for a special government session dedicated to the global economic crisis that is affecting Croatia, he said in an interview for Nova TV on Tuesday evening Asked to comment on Prime Minister Ivo Sanader’s statement that there was no need to …

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, exactly a year after Kosovo seceded from Serbia, to speak about Kosovo and to inform him of Belgrade’s expectation that the six-point plan will be implemented in full as approved by the Security Council.. Serbian Foreign …

Kosovo is not an independent state despite seceding from Serbia a year ago, Serbia’s President Boris Tadic told AFP in an interview For Serbia, the Feb. 17 anniversary is “a day when the authorities in Pristina declared the independence of Kosovo in an illegal way, based on international law,” Tadic …

Kosovo’s parliament held a special session on the first anniversary of its declaration of independence on Tuesday, with senior leaders conveying their wishes for the future and promising that the coming years will be more productive and positive. “Our first year was a year of proud for Kosovo,” said Prime …

While hardline Serbs in north Kosovo plan protests to show their rejection of the independence celebrated troughout Kosovo’s Albanian areas on Tuesday, in Serb enclaves and mixed areas in the south, such as Gracanica and Gjilan/Gnjilane, the mood is sombre and bitter. Serbs in Gracanica and Gjilan/Gnjilane started the day …

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors acknowledged in a meeting on Tuesday that a project meant to safeguard Albania’s coastal zones was used to selectively demolish parts of a village in southern Albania and leave many families homeless. An inspection report by the International Development Association, IDA, published by …

Bulgarian authorities plan to invest in tourism projects in “beautiful and lesser-known places around the country” and build them up to their former splendor and prominence. The first areas to benefit from the initiative are the town of Trun in western Bulgaria, the village of Sitovo near Plovdiv and Goleshevo …

New financial leasing contracts in Bulgaria continued to dwindle in the final quarter of the year, totalling 936 million leva, down 15% from the three months before, showed central bank data. As the financial meltdown began to make its way into the Bulgarian economy, the sector started to lose momentum …