Balkans

Bulgaria can expect Azeri gas via the Nabucco West pipeline in end- 2018 or early 2019, according to Christian Dolezal, spokesperson of the Nabucco consortium. “We are very optimistic because we provided everything the Shah Deniz consortium wanted. We have reached a very advanced stage

Slovenia and Croatia have agreed on a means of resolving a banking dispute that had threatened to derail Croatia’s accession to the European Union in July. At stake were deposits lost by Croatians when the break-up of the Yugoslavia precipitated the collapse of the Slovenia-based Ljubljanska Banka.

The deal that ended Macedonia’s political crisis foresees possible early elections – but only if the parties agree on it by autumn, the European Parliament Rapporteur on Macedonia.Richard Howitt told Balkan Insight that early general elections are up to parliament – after government and opposition came out with contradictory readings …

Macedonia will soon file an extradition request to neighbouring Kosovo for two recently-arrested ethnic Albanians wanted for trial over high-profile killings near Skopje.The justice ministry said it expected to file a request to Kosovo in two or three days for the extradition of the two ethnic Albanians wanted for involvement …

A court in the Croatian town of Knin gave a six-month suspended sentence to the Serbian Orthodox cleric for threatening to kill a journalist.Aleksandar Bogojevic, the former prior of Krka, a famous medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery in the Sibenik region, was convicted on Tuesday of threatening to kill Croatian journalist …

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said that early elections will be held on May 12, while demonstrators who caused the fall of the government said they would keep protesting.Plevneliev on Tuesday announced when the polls would be held and said that the earliest possible date for dissolving parliament and appointing a …

Western Balkan ministers have adopted a regional strategy to handle the furor over toxin levels in milk, which have rattled consumers in several countries.Following a meeting on Tuesday in Belgrade, agriculture ministers of Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia and Bosnia agreed a regional strategy to ensure better quality controls of milk. The …

The defeat of the pro-EU government in Moldova in a no-confidence vote is causing concern in neighbouring Romania.Moldova’s government was ousted on Tuesday following a no-confidence vote against the cabinet of Prime Minister Vlad Filat, with 54 lawmakers supporting the move. The charge was led by the opposition Communists on …

Albanian minsters say Kosovo is making use of consumer worries about levels of aflatoxin in milk to damage the commercial interest of Albanian dairies.Albania has accused Kosovo of unfair trade practices after authorities in Kosovo ordered the removal from the market of milk produced by two Albanian dairies, Primalat and …

General Momcilo Perisic, acquitted of war crimes by the Hague Tribunal last week, could now be prosecuted for spying for the United States after he returned to Serbia.Perisic’s trial for passing state secrets to US will be scheduled as soon as the Hague Tribunal officially confirms he was acquitted of …