Balkans

EU Commissioner Stefan Fule announced Monday that Albania will receive 81 million euro to assist with issues including judicial reform and the fight against organised crime.The money will help build the new courthouse in Tirana, restructure two border crossing points and improve the Albanian State Police. It will also help …

An ethnic Albanian legislator threatened to torch the assembly if all other attempts fail to stop the passage of a controversial army bill that has angered Albanians.Speaking at Thursday’s session dedicated to the draft law, Zijadin Sela, from the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, said he and others would …

Milo Djukanovic is the ruling party’s candidate as prime minister-designate, Svetozar Marovic, a party official, said on Friday, making his return to high office all but certain.Montenegro’s long-time leader and chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, which has held power since the early the Nineties, is slated …

Only the likes of Barack Obama or Bill Clinton could apply to be advisers to Macedonian Health Minister Nikola Todorov, apparently, as the condition is having an IQ above 140.In a job announcement posted on Thursday, Macedonia’s health ministry said it was looking for seven to ten candidates to serve …

As the international community’s overseer publishes a highly critical report, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik says the High Representative is himself to blame for the problems.Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, the Serb dominated entity in Bosnia, has criticised the latest report by the Office of High Representative, OHR, …

Country bids farewell to 98-year-old Patriarch who withstood a damaging schism after the fall of CommunismA black flag was mounted on the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia on Friday, where the funeral mass for the deceased patriarch was to be held. Patriarch Maxim died on Tuesday at the age …

Amid worries about funding, the general manager and co-founder of the world famous festival has resigned.Bojan Boskovic, co-founder and general manager of the Exit music festival, resigned on Thursday from his post. “Owing to the world crisis the budget has been already significantly reduced, so there is no room for …

Ashton praises Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic for agreeing on Wednesday to continue Kosovo-Serbia talks and implement deals agreed earlier.Kosovo and Serbian leaders held “open and honest” talks, focusing on different ways of normalizing relations between the two sides, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, said on Wednesday.

Kosovo and Montenegro have started consultations aimed at signing the international agreement on border demarcation, a legacy of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.The commissions in charge of demarcating the borders between Montenegro and Kosovo met on Wednesday in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica. They agreed on further activities necessary for …

Zlatko Lagumdzija, leader of the Social Democratic Party, has proposed two new ministers and a deputy after the SDP expelled its former coalition partner from government.SDP head Zlatko Lagumdzija on November 7 asked Vjekoslav Bevanda, Chairman of the Council of Ministers [Bosnia’s Prime Minister], to appoint new security and defence …