Balkans

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).

Hoping to fend off a strong challenge from the opposition Social Democrats, Croatia’s ruling party has introduced a new platform.

In the latest annual Trafficking in Persons Report, released last month by the US State Department, Macedonia is criticised for not fully complying with the minimum standards in eliminating human trafficking.

A court in Bihac on Monday (July 2nd) sentenced a Bosnian Serb man to 15 years in prison for war crimes against Muslims.

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu said on Monday (July 2nd) that the date of the country’s first elections for European Parliament members will be set for September, immediately after the summer recess ends.

New High Representative Miroslav Lajcak assumed the post from Christian Schwarz-Schilling during a brief ceremony Monday (July 2nd).

After two weeks of uncertainty, Feral Tribune, a political and satirical Croatian weekly, is back in business. The newspaper, praised for its public role and investigative journalism, had not been published since mid-June due to unresolved debt.

The Sava River, which runs from Slovenia through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia, where it connects with the Danube, should become completely navigable, officials from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and BiH agreed.