Balkans

‘New Witness’ in Kosovo Organ Trafficking Case

Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor said there were new leads in the investigation into alleged organ trading by Kosovo fighters during the late 1990s conflict.War crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic told the Novi Magazin weekly that Serbian prosecutors had informed the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo that a new witness …

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Bulgaria ‘Will Pay Price’ For Accusing Hezbollah

Bulgarian nationalist party takes government to task for blaming pro-Iranian militants for last year’s terror attack in Burgas.Bulgaria will pay a high price for maintaining that Hezbollah was involved in last year’s terror attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas, the leader of the country’s nationalist Ataka party has …

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Ratko Mladic ‘Terrorised Sarajevo with Snipers’

A former UN peacekeeping forces official told the Hague Tribunal that Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command targeted civilians with artillery and sniper fire.The Bosnian Serb Army “constantly shelled and conducted sniper attacks against civilians in Sarajevo” said Anthony Banbury, who served with the UN protection force UNPROFOR in the …

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NATO Urges Bosnia to Register State Property

Anders Fogh Rasmussen of NATO urged Bosnia to implement last year’s agreement on registering state property as a condition of advancing its membership of the alliance.The chair of Bosnia’s tri-partite Presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic, said Bosnia must move ahead with registering military property as a condition for joining NATO. After a …

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Macedonia Opposition Slates Curbs to MPs’ Speeches

A motion from a ruling party MP on limiting the time that legislators can spend on discussions in parliament has further angered the opposition.Opposition Social Democrats have attacked as provocative a bid to amend the parliamentary rulebook to limit the time spent on debates. “The government is showing its totalitarian …

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EU Parliamentarians Urge Serbia Membership Talks

EU accession talks with Serbia should start without delay, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament said on Thursday.Voting on the European Commission’s 2012 progress report on Serbia, the committee said starting talks with Serbia as soon as June was achievable. “We acknowledged Serbian progress and send a message …

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Kosovo, Serbia Presidents Hail Outcome of Talks

Presidents Atifete Jahjaga and Tomislav Nikolic pledged their commitment to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and their respective European agendas after their historic meeting on Wednesday.Catherine Ashton, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, said after a three-hour meeting on Wednesday with the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia that the two leaders had vowed …

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Four Montenegrins Start Smuggling Trial in Italy

The trial started in Bari on Thursday of four Montenegrins accused of involvement in smuggling cigarettes in the 1990s.Three Montenegrin businessmen, Vesko Barovic, Branko Vujosevic, and Branislav Micunovic, and the former chief of Montenegro’s trade mission in Italy, Dusanka Jeknic, are standing trial in Bari, a Podgorica-based radio, Antena M, …

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Albania Guardsmen Acquitted of Killing Protesters

Tirana District Court ruled on Thursday that two former officers of the Republican Guard were not guilty for the deaths of three protestors in the January 21, 2011 riots.The court rejected murder charges against General Nrea Prendi, former head of the Republican Guard, and Agim Llupo, former chief of staff …

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Macedonian Hague Convict Seeks Early Release

Former police commander Johan Tarculovski, the only Macedonian national convicted for war crimes by the Hague Tribunal, is appealing for early release after completing eight of his 12-year sentence.Tarculovski’s lawyer, Antonio Apostolski, said the German prison where Tarculovksi is serving a 12 year sentence had proceeded his appeal for early …

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