Balkans

Genc Mucaj, Albania’s new ambassador to Turkey, presented his credentials to President Abdullah Gul on Monday afternoon. The press was invited to attend the ambassador’s presentation of his credentials to the president.

Kosovo said that a peace treaty would facilitate the reconciliation but would also ensure that Serbia pays compensation for the late 1990s war, said Hajredin Kuci, Kosovo’s deputy prime minister and justice minister.

Leader of Macedonian oppositional party Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), Branko Crvenkovski, will ask for calling snap parliamentary elections in Macedonia no matter what the results of the March 24 local elections. “If we are united, if we stay firm and if we are decided

European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin has said that “Unregulated relations between Serbia and Kosovo would block European integrations but what is more important, they would put a red flag on Serbia in the eyes of foreign investors”.

Only Greece has the right to use the name Macedonia until a solution to the name issue is found, said Greek MEP Hrisula Paliadeli. Paliadeli is one of the authors of the book called European cartography and politics: The case of Macedonia.

At a ceremony marking nine years after anti-Serb violence in Kosovo, the serbian prime minister reiterated that 19 civilians were killed, 800 injured, 3,870 expelled and that 935 houses and 34 churches were destroyed. “I wish something like this will never happen again and I want Serbia to protect security …

The Turkish and American foreign ministers discussed the developments in Iraq and Cyprus over the phone on March 16. The Kerry-Davutoğlu talk was focused on the developments in Iraq as tension between Iraqi

Stefan Fuele, the European Union commissioner for enlargement and neighborhood policy, will make an official visit to Belgrade on Monday. The visit comes before the talks that will be hold this week between the Serbian and Kosovo prime ministers.

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has arrived in Brussels for a two-day EU leaders summit focused on reviewing economic policy and promoting jobs and growth. The EU leaders meeting will conclude the first phase of the 2013 European Semester. The European

Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has expressed hope that a deal with Serbia regarding his country’s status is within reach. Thaci made the statement on March 14 after meeting in Pristina with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.