Balkans

Albania’s Muslim community has started a petition drive to appeal to all 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, OIC, to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Only 9 out off 57 IOC member states have recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 last …

Macedonian health authorities kicked off an emergency mass vaccination campaign on Tuesday to deal with an outbreak of mumps, a disease that affects mainly children. Mumps is a viral infectious disease that is spread from person to person through contact with respiratory secretions such as saliva, but can also be …

Relations between Serbia and Montenegro, that used to make up a joint state just three years ago, are on “an impermissibly low level”, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said. Montenegro’s ambassador had to leave Belgrade last October as a persona non grata after Podgorica recognised the independence of Kosovo, Serbia’s …

Athens is committed to finding a win-win way out in the row with Skopje over the name ‘Macedonia’, but Skopje’s provocative attitude is dimming chances of a UN-sponsored solution, Greece’s Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said on Monday in Belgrade. Greece and Macedonia are due to attend a fresh round of …

The rapporteur of the European Parliament for Croatia Hannes Swoboda said that the next two weeks would be critical in the resolution of the Slovenia-Croatia border dispute that threatens to derail Zagreb’s EU bid. The border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia is a legal issue for which there are international …

The outgoing international peace envoy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Miroslav Lajcak, said he is leaving his post and the troubled country because the international bodies there are a “dead horse”, doing nothing while rival local leaders held the country back. Speaking in the Telering talk-show program at OBN Television on …

Police from the European Union law and justice mission in Kosovo have set up two customs control points in north Kosovo, almost one year after a crowd of angry Serbs burnt down the border posts in reaction to the Albanian majority’s declaration of independence from Serbia. The two border points, …

Macedonia will not start European Union accession talks during the Czech presidency that runs until the end of June, Czech deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told local media. The Czechs would be happy to see this happening, Pojar told the “Evrozum” show on A2 TV late on Sunday, but “this …

The junior partner in the Bosnian Serb ruling coalition, the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP, said it was walking out of the government led by the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, and going into the opposition. The walkout does not affect the stability of the government in the Serb-dominated …

A World Bank 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, according to an internal report , which additionally notes allegations of corruption and efforts by World Bank officials to cover up the events …