Balkans

Bulgaria’s exports to non-EU countries increased by more than 10 percent in the first half of the year, totaling nearly 7 billion euros.The country’s exports to non-EU countries in the period January-October 2012 were up over last year’s figures by 11.1 percent, according to Bulgaria’s National Statistics Institute. The exports …

Macedonia has followed in the footsteps of neighbouring Bulgaria in offering citizenship to foreigners ready to invest in the country.Macedonia’s government plans to offer citizenship to anyone who invests at least 400,000 euro and employs at least 10 people. “This offer stands for all investors except those in the hospitality …

Albania’s announcement that it plans to offer speedy citizenship to ethnic Albanians across the world has stirred huge interest in Kosovo while ruffling feathers elsewhere in the region.Kosovars have been crowding outside the Albanian embassy in Pristina in larger numbers than usual lately, in the hope of obtaining an Albanian …

Human rights activists in various cities marched peacefully in order to point out crude violations of human rights across Bosnia and Herzegovina.The activists of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, YIHR, carried an improvised casket and a slogan which read “Human Rights: Rest in Peace” in peaceful marches organised on …

EU foreign ministers will recommend that Serbia gets a start date for EU accession talks in six months.Serbia will not get a date for the start of the EU accession negotiations until the next steps in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue are made, says a document that the EU foreign ministers should …

Ahead of the EU Council of Ministers discussion on Macedonia’s blocked EU bid, Athens sends a message dampening Skopje’s hopes of opening EU accession talks prior to the resolution of the ‘name’ dispute.The Greek Foreign Ministry said that the condition for lifting its blockade to Macedonia’s EU membership remains the …

The most pressing problems of the Bosnian judiciary are politicisation, backlog of cases, poor method of financing and failure to prosecute corrupted senior officials, claims a study by Transparency International.The Bosnian branch of Transparency International has presented on Friday at a conference organised to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day, findings …

Art and education should be used to bring about reconciliation in the region of the former Yugoslavia, a Sarajevo round table heard.Bosnian and regional academics and artists have met in Sarajevo on Friday to discuss their role in the regional reconciliation following the 1990s wars. Dino Mustafic, a Bosnian director, …

The Serbian and Croatian high officials have met for the first time since the ICTY acquittal of two Croatian generals in an effort to restore cooperation after their relations worsened over the last several months.Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, met his Croatian counterpart, Neven Mimica, on Saturday on the …

Bulgaria’s government will withdraw most of the country’s rangers in the NATO security mission in Afghanistan with only 160 of them remaining there by the end of 2014, Defense Minister, Anyu Angelov, has confirmed. A total of 600 Bulgarian soldiers and medical staff are currently stationed in Afghanistan in Kabul …