Balkans

Balkan States Unite to Tackle EU Asylum Concerns

Six Western Balkan states have vowed to cooperate in solving the problem of illegal immigrants to EU countries, following threats to reintroduce visas to the region.Leaders of six Western Balkan countries have concluded that closer cooperation will overcome the problem of people wrongly seeking asylum in Western Europe. At a …

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Albania Slashes Interest Rate to Historic Low

The central bank cut the key benchmark interest rate on Wednesday by 0.25 per cent to a historic low of 3.75 per cent in an effort to kick start the stagnating economy.“Economic activity remains below potential and sources of growth are unstable,” the central bank governor, Ardian Fullani, said, explaining …

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Russia Opposes Changes to Balkan Borders

The Russian Foreign Minister has dimissed the Albanian Prime Minister’s call for an eventual unification of all Albanians in one state, saying too much blood has been spilled in the region already.Sergei Lavrov said that any redrawing of borders in Europe is unacceptable, and that fully refers to the situation …

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Kosovo Arrests Five for Serb Grave Desecrations

“After the arrested were interviewed at the police station, the prosecution sent all the information to the court because there were suspicions about their involvement in the grave demolitions,” Ismet Hasani, spokesperson for Kosovo police in Gjilane, told BIRN. “One of the arrested is an adult, while the other four …

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Macedonians Protest Over Sky-High Bills

Macedonians angered by repeated hikes in their utility bills are to present a petition to parliament on Wednesday.Protesters against high utility bills plan to take to the streets of Skopje on Wednesday before submitting a petition to parliament containing 13,000 signatures collected over recent months. The law says civil initiatives …

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Serb Women MPs Form Club of Their Own

Women members of the Serbian parliament plan to form a cross-party women’s caucus in the parliament to push for sex equality in general.Women parliamentarians in Serbia are forming a team tasked with setting up a cross-party women’s caucus in parliament to promote the cause of gender equality. Dubravka Filipovski, of …

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Croats Urged to Open Subsidiaries in Bosnia

Bosnia’s Foreign Trade Minister says Croatian companies should open subsidiaries in Bosnia – if they want to retain their markets in the country – once Croatia joins the EU.Mirko Sarovic, Bosnia’s Minister of Foreign Trade, on January 29 expressed concern that Bosnia will lose access to the Croatian market, and …

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Bosnia’s New Prosecutor Vows to Tackle War Crimes

Dealing with a backlog of hundreds of pending war crimes investigations will be a top priority, said Bosnia’s newly-appointed chief prosecutor Goran Salihovic.Salihovic, who takes office on Friday, said he wanted to speed up approximately 600 war crimes investigations which are currently pending at the Bosnian state prosecutor’s office. He …

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Albania Govt Signs US Lobby Firm Ahead of Poll

As Albania’s government signs a new contract with the Washington-based law and lobbyist firm Patton Boggs, to improve its image in the US ahead of the June elections, questions remain about the sources of funding for parties’ PR agencies.The consulting firm has represented Albania’s government several times and also served …

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