Balkans

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 …

After a court in September banned their previous planned strike, Macedonian doctors have vowed to ahead with a strike on November 14, whatever the courts say.Macedonian medics say Health Ministry pressures and court bans will not stop them from taking industrial action over the ministry’s new way of calculating their …

The Netherlands has decided to keep restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian workers in its labour market until 2014.The agreement is the result of a political deal between Dutch parties reached before Monday, when they outlined their plans for government. The section dealing with immigration and integration says that restrictions on …

The Greek prime minister has worked out an agreement with the country’s creditors (EU, ECB and IMF) on the spending cuts Athens will have to make to ensure its future in the eurozone. “We concluded the negotiations on the [austerity] measures and on the draft [2013] budget,” reads a statement …

The Bulgarian Socialist Party will not enter into coalition with now-ruling GERB party, no matter what the outcome of summer 2013 general elections, stated socialist MP Boyko Velikov. At a press conference Tuesday, Velikov said that it is a standing position of the Socialist Party that a coalition with center-right …

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Bosnia on Tuesday to overcome ethnic infighting and pursue constitutional reforms needed for any chance of joining NATO and the European Union. “If you do not make progress you will be left behind,” Clinton said at the start of a trip with EU …

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the EU’s Foreign Affairs High Representative, Catherine Ashton, urged Bosnia to move faster on reforms that will enable the country to join NATO and the EU.Hillary Clinton said that Bosnian leaders should overcome their differences and resolve problems in order for the …

Momcilo Perisic, the most senior officer of the former Yugoslav Army to be convicted of war crimes, has appealed against his conviction by the Hague Tribunal, ICTY.General Perisic, who commanded the Yugoslav Army during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia, was jailed for 27 years by the Hague Tribunal, ICTY, …