Balkans

The World Bank’s Albania director, Jane Armitage, on Thursday described the outcome of the sale of Albania’s utility company to the Czech firm CEZ in 2009 as ‘deeply disappointing’.“Three and a half years later we share the deep disappointment of Albanian citizens and the government with the outcomes of this …

Macedonia is expected to finish this year on zero per cent economic growth, the Central Bank Governor says, forecasting the same figure for 2013 as well.Bank Governor Dimitar Bogov blamed economic stagnation on shrinking exports caused by the European crisis. Macedonia exports more than half of its produce to European …

As the government in Greece votes on a new austerity program for next year’s budget, demonstrations are taking place outside parliament in Athens. Facing the debt-stricken country is another 13.5 billion euros worth of cuts and tax increases for 2013.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton teamed up to a three-nation Balkan diplomatic trip in Bosnia. There they met with President Izetbegović. USA and EU encourage country’s integration into the West. At the press conference organized after the meeting, Ms Catherine Ashton stated …

In an apparent reference to talk of ethnic partition, Hillary Clinton said the US opposes any changes to the borders of Kosovo.The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said Kosovo’s final status and borders were a closed chapter, urging Kosovo to resolve remaining issues with Serbia through EU-mediated dialogue. “We …

Journalists’ association says that by backing away from pledge to decriminalize slander and defamation, the government is encouraging pressure on the media.The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia, NUNS, protested on Tuesday against a Justice Ministry work group’s decision to scrap moves to decriminalize slander and defamation. “The fact that …

The former Croatian Serb leader, Goran Hadzic, was very close to the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who guided him through the war in Croatia, says a former member of Hadzic’s political party.Testifying at Hadzic’s trial at the Hague Tribunal, Borivoje Savic, his former friend and party colleague, recalled their …

Macedonia’s Constitutional Court has refused to evaluate whether parliament’s decision last year not to prosecute four war crime cases was constitutional.Wednesday’s decision brings to an end the legal challenge by the victims’ relatives to the controversial move by the Macedonian parliament. In July 2011, the ruling coalition voted to abandon …

The European Commision has expressed concern about a Senate decision to ignore a verdict of the Supreme Court.Romania’s upper chamber, the Senate, on Tuesday ruled that Mircea Diaconu, an MP from the ruling coalition, should retain his position in parliament at the end of his mandate in November despite a …

EU money spent over a decade in Kosovo has not achieved its intended results in the field of the rule of law, a new report by the European Court of Auditors says.The European Court of Auditors says that EU financial aid to the field of the rule of law in …