Balkans

VIENNA — Belgrade is against a joint EU entry of all Western Balkan countries “as a package,” says Serbia’s chief negotiator in EU talks, Tanja Miščević. “The only such package possible is one that would include Montenegro besides Serbia,” she said on Friday. “We can only speak of a package …

US Vice-President Joseph Biden praised Montenegro’s progress towards joining NATO and said Washington supports Montenegro’s aspirations to closen ties with Europe. “Montenegro has achieved progress in pursuing reforms and standards within the integration processes, particularly in the field of security, rule of law and strengthening of the public support for …

Six years after Kosovo’s independence constitution came into force, authorities in Pristina are still struggling to implement it in the Serb-run north of the country. Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said the country’s “constitutionality and legality encompasses the whole of its territory, a country with functional and democratic institutions, based on …

Amid reports that the EU may freeze further work on the South Stream gas pipeline, Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic insisted that the project remained important for both Europe and Serbia. Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, said that Serbia was preserving vital national interests with regard to the construction of …

Kosovo MPs have slated the authorities for neglecting a memorial dedicated to Kosovo fighters whose sponsors have now closed it, saying it was vandalised. The closure of a memorial dedicated to Kosovo Liberation Army fighters in the village of Marina, in Skenderaj/Srbice, has sparked a heated debate amongst lawmakers who …

The pre-election silence for Macedonia’s first round of presidential elections began on Friday at midnight and lasts until Sunday’s vote. Campaigning for the presidential election has halted in Macedonia ahead of Sunday, when more than 1.7 million registered voters will choose between four candidates. 

The well known Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadani has told Albanians to leave the fight against Bashar al-Assad to the Syrians and not join militant group fighting in the civil war. “Those who have sacrificed their lives, whether in Kosovo, Syria or in another country, for good causes, for freedom and …

A Serbian newspaper seen as close to the ruling Progessive Party has launched a blistering attack on a new cross-border TV station, N1, accusing it of working for the Americans. The Serbian tabloid Informer on Monday accused the US of trying to subvert Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s likely future Prime Minister, by setting …

Two key parties in Mostar, the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action, SDA, and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, discussed development of the troubled Herzegovinian city, adding that they had come up with a strategic document to aid the economic situation. In a meeting on April 8, the two parties discussed …

US Vice-President Joseph Biden praised Montenegro’s progress towards joining NATO and said Washington supports Montenegro’s aspirations to closen ties with Europe. “Montenegro has achieved progress in pursuing reforms and standards within the integration processes, particularly in the field of security, rule of law and strengthening of the public support for …