Balkans

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Tuesday briefed President Karolos Papoulias on his recent visits to China and Azerbaijan, describing the trips as positive.

Aleksandar Vučić is convinced Serbia will get the start date for the EU accession talks, and “not only because of the agreement with Priština. It will also happen “because EU institutions had commended the government for achieving progress in almost all areas,” the deputy PM said.

Political consultations between the foreign ministries of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina focusing on bilateral ties and cooperation between the two with regard to regional issues are starting in İstanbul on Wednesday.

After more than 12 hours of talks the 8th circle of the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo ended this morning. Despite the positive expectations and the long talk in Brussels a progress in the relations between

Filip Vujanovic, from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, started his third presidential term amid protests by people who still contest the legality of his election win.

Britain has ratified Croatia’s accession treaty to the European Union, paving the way for Croatia to join the union after six years of tough negotiations.

The governments of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey adopted Tuesday a joint declaration stressing the potential of Nabucco to supply the energy markets of the Western Balkans and the Visegrad group countries (Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary) at the fifth Nabucco Committee meeting in Bucharest.

Serbian War Crimes Prosecution announced on Tuesday in Belgrade that two suspects have been arrested on suspicion that they committed war crimes against civilians in 1999.

Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaci, who head the governments in Belgrade and Priština, are once again meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. They are discussing the concrete steps to implement the Brussels agreement, which they initialed on April 19.

Westerwelle said that if tangible results are achieved in the implementation of the Belgrade-Pristina deal, he could send a positive signal to his country’s parliament as it deliberates over whether to recommend granting a start date for EU accession talks with Serbia. “Serbia can do good for Europe, and Europe …