Balkans

Kosovo will inevitably gain independence, and it would be better if the transition to its new status is orderly, a senior US diplomat said on Tuesday (July 10th) after a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Two years after Macedonian authorities started transferring responsibility to the local level, the second phase of the country’s decentralisation plan is under way. Earlier this month, five municipalities, out of a total 85, asked to take over financial responsibility in several areas.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has a new top international envoy. Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak took over the post of high representative and EU special representative (EUSR) on July 1st, succeeding Germany’s Christian Schwarz-Schilling.

Bulgarian nurse Snezhana Dimitrova has spent eight years in a Libyan jail and her family is convinced that a court there will on Wednesday confirm the death sentences passed on her and five other foreign medics.

Former Bosnian Serb commander General Zdravko Tolimir, considered the third most important war crimes suspect after Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, refused again on Tuesday (July 3rd) to enter a plea on war crimes charges before The Hague tribunal judges.

Police have arrested four alleged members of an organised crime group and are looking for nine others following last week’s murder of a major underworld figure.

As expected, Deputy Prime Minister Marko Bela, who has been overseeing culture, education and European integration, resigned on Tuesday (July 3rd).

Kosovo Albanian leaders reiterated Tuesday (July 3rd) that Pristina might look for alternative scenarios for achieving independence if the UN Security Council fails to adopt a resolution based on the Ahtisaari plan.

Cristina Gallach, EU security chief Javier Solana’s spokeswoman, said Tuesday (July 3rd) that Brussels wants a consensus on Kosovo status to be reached as soon as possible.

Serbia must arrest Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladic by the end of the year, chief UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte told journalists on Tuesday (July 3rd).