Balkans

The Serbian government and the political party of detained Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic, who is accused of war crimes, have launched a petition demanding his release. The Belgrade authorities along with Ivanovic’s Serbia, Democracy and Justice party launched the joint petition on Wednesday, asking the authorities in Pristina to …

Bulgaria is failing to adopt measures to make proper use of potential European funding for the next six years, a report by the National Audit Office argues. Lack of priorities in distributing EU funds between 2014 and 2020 may be one of the reasons why Bulgaria is lagging behind the …

Zdravko Mustac, wanted for his alleged involvement in a political assassination carried out by the Yugoslav secret services in 1983, has been sent to Germany to stand trial. Former senior Yugoslav secret service agent Mustac is being held in a jail in Stadelheim, near Munich, after he was extradited from …

PODGORICA — The Montenegrin Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed as “inappropriate” and “arbitrary” the criticism the country received from the Russian Federation. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said the statements made by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović during his visit last week to the Unites States …

BELGRADE — Serbs driven out of Đakovica in Kosovo sent a protest to the Priština authorities for not being allowed to visit their town and property on Good Friday. “The Serbs from the Đakovica region are resentful of the institution in Priština, EULEX and KFOR for being unable to ensure …

Sofia. Prospects for diversification in the energy sector, the implementation of projects of common interest and potential areas for investment were among the highlights of the conversation between Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski and Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Natig Aliyev, the government information service announced. During the meeting the two …

The construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline will start in 2015, the Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Natig Aliyev said at a meeting with Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev. Stoynev said that Bulgaria intends to secure gas supplies from Azerbaijan as soon as possible, ITAR-TASS reports.

Europe’s wealthiest people are planning to put more of their cash into equities, believing they will outperform all other asset classes, new data shows. And it’s those ultra-high net worth individuals based in the crisis-hit countries like Spain and Greece who are more bullish than any other group.

BELGRADE — The Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo said that Aleksandar Vulin was denied entry to Kosovo by the authorities in Priština on Tuesday. Vulin heads the office and is the minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija in the outgoing government.

VIENNA — Tanja Miščević has stated that the accession talks with the EU may begin in June by opening Chapter 35 on normalization of relations with Priština. After this step, chapters on the judiciary and rule of law will be opened, Miščević explained in an interview for the Vienna-based daily …