Balkans

As Albania’s Central Electoral Commission, CEC, remains in political deadlock, observers warn that standards for the 2013 general election are already in jeopardy.“An independent and well functioning CEC is one of the main poll standards sought by international observers,” Premto Gogo, head of KRIIK Albania, an NGO that is part …

The largest producer of the traditional beverage NAVIP in Serbia and in the Balkans has closed after 84 years, another victim of the economic crisis in the region.Miroljub Spasojevic, director of the NAVIP factory, said the remaining 20 workers stopped coming to work on Monday, as the company that produced …

Lulzim Peci may be the first Kosovo diplomat to represent the country in Serbia, although the nature of his appointment is likely to be interpreted differently by the Serbian government.Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, has proposed Lulzim Peci as Kosovo’s ambassador to Serbia, Artan Behrami of the foreign ministry told …

The European Commission is referring Bulgaria to the EU Court of Justice over the way it assigned its digital broadcast spectrum.The European Commission on Thursday said the procedure followed by Bulgaria was based on disproportionately restrictive award conditions, which had led to the exclusion of potential candidates. This hampered competition …

After chairing Serbia’s prestigious Red Star football club for only a month, Dragan Dzajic, a football legend, resigned on Wednesday following a physical altercation with Nebojsa Covic, the club’s vice-president. It is not clear exactly why the incident occurred, but media reports said that Miodrag Zecevic, the club’s secretary, had …

The Office of the High Representative has failed to break the deadlock between Bosniaks and Croats over Mostar’s electoral system after calling a meeting of the main parties.A meeting in the ethnically divided southwestern city of Mostar on January 23 – called by the Office of the High Representative, OHR, …

The EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fuele, on Wednesday paid an unannounced visit to Macedonia, where he apparently urged leaders to resolve the ongoing political crisis and focus on the EU agenda.Commissioner Fuele met President Gjorge Ivanov, the Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski and the opposition Social Democrat leader, Branko Crvenkovski, but …

In a landmark ruling, the court said the state was to blame for the killing of two elderly Serb civilians after the Croatian military operation ‘Storm’ in 1995.The judge in the town of Knin ruled that Croatia must pay 540,000 kuna (about 70,000 euro) to the children of Serb victims …

As the Serbian government mulls involving the Chinese in building a river channel from Belgrade to Thessaloniki, opposition parties and some experts have dubbed it unrealistic.Milan Bacevic, Serbia’s Urban Planning Minister, has travelled to China to start preliminary talks on building a channel running from Belgrade to Thessaloniki in northern …

After attempts to sell it failed, the mainly state-owned Oltchim chemical company is filing for insolvency.Romania’s mainly state-owned petrochemical and plastics manufacturer, Oltchim, is to start insolvency procedures after sending a request to a local court, the Economy Minister, Varujan Vosganian, said on Wednesday. Oltchim is the second large state-owned …