Balkans

President Traian Basescu is making no comment about whether he will reappoint Victor Ponta as Romania’s next prime minister, even though Ponta’s coalition won the recent general election with a large majority.President Traian Basescu on Wednesday asked politicians and the media not to make any inappropriate comments about his alleged …

Leaders in Kosovo say they expect to forge ahead in the EU integration process early in 2013, as they are “at the final stage” of meeting the criteria to start negotiations on the first step, a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA.The President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, on Wednesday said that …

Government and the opposition exchanged accusations on Wednesday after the EU Council of Ministers rejected Tirana’s bid for candidate status for the third year.Prime Minister Sali Berisha told the cabinet he blamed the opposition leader Edi Rama for the failed bid, accusing the Socialists of blocking the reform process. “Rama …

The initiative by Montenegro’s judges to ban public comments on non-final verdicts is largely seen as controversial and against the basic principles of open trials.The most recent proposal of the Association of Judges of Montenegro aims to forbid public comments on court decisions which are not final, Vijesti Television reported …

W ith an estimated 10 billion tons in geological reserves, coal is a vitally important part of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s economy. Besides supplying local industrial facilities such as steel mills, state mines also fuel all the country’s power plants. More than 80 percent of the country’s coal is taken from open-pit mines …

Bulgaria has a strong interest in developing bilateral relations with Azerbaijan in the energy sector, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has declared. Mladenov has noted that his country supports the Southern Gas Corridor, as it believes it would contribute to energy security and competition in Europe.

Serbian police have detained Miroslav Miskovic, his son Marko and eight other persons on suspicion of corruption.Serbian police on Wednesday arrested the owner of Delta Holding, Miroslav Miskovic, and nine other persons on suspicion of abuses during privatization of road construction and maintenance companies. The suspects include his son, Marko, …

Zdravko Tolimir, a close wartime aide to the former Bosnian Serb army chief, Ratko Mladic, has been found guilty of the Srebenica genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.Tolimir, now 64, was in charge for intelligence and security for the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian war. He was one …

Greece found an ally in Bulgaria in preventing Macedonia from obtaining a start date for EU accession talks at a Tuesday’s EU meeting in Brussels.At the EU meeting, where Macedonia had been hoping to obtain a start date for membership talks, Greece justified its blockade once more on the grounds …

Cold claimed ten lives in the Balkans, while heavy snowfall has disrupted traffic throughout the region.In Serbia, the fifth victim of freezing temperatures was buried on Tuesday. Since the cold wave hit the Balkans at the weekend, ten people have died in Serbia and Croatia. Although most roads in Serbia …