Balkans

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed EU concerns Friday over political developments in Romania, insisting there can be no compromise on respect for the rule of law. Barroso “made it clear” to Romanian President Traian Basescu that the EU “will not compromise on the need for all member states …

Bulgaria has “lost patience” with the Netherlands over its veto on the Bulgarian bid to join the Schengen Area, Bulgaria’s Deputy PM and Finance Minister, Simeon Djakov, has told the Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf.”The Netherlands has been changing the rules of the game for election campaign reasons,” Djankov told the …

Serbia’s ruling coalition at national level has taken power in the capital of the northern Vojvodina province.Twenty hours of stormy debate in the Novi Sad city assembly have finished with the election of new leadership in the city and the dismissal of the mayor. In a secret vote, the assembly …

Serbian law expert says that by broadcasting the testimony of an alleged participant in organ-harvesting, the War Crimes Prosecutor broke Serbia’s own criminal procedures.Nikola Lazic, a Belgrade criminal lawyer, said Serbia’s Prosecution Office for War Crimes had broken Serbian law as it is forbidden for a protected witness in an …

To fight modern organized crime, the Balkan countries must work together to improve security and stability in the region, a regional security conference in Sarajevo has concluded.The conference – titled “Balkan security – The challenges within cyber infrastructure“ – was held in Sarajevo on September 13, and it was attended …

Bosnia and Serbia should look forward and leaving their unhappy past behind them, the prime ministers of both countries agreed on Wednesday.Bosnia’s Prime Minister, Vjekoslav Bevanda, and Ivica Dacic, his Serbian partner, pledged to build a fresh relationship between the two countries in Sarajevo on September 12.Putting the bloody conflicts …

Deputy minister says new government will stick to Media Strategy and end its control of media once the necessary legislation is in place, and after public debate.In his first address since becoming Deputy Culture Minister, Dragan Kolarevic said that the state intended to withdraw from media ownership by the timeframe …

About 72% of the Bulgarians do not approve of the economic policy of the government of the ruling center-right party GERB and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, according to an annual public opinion poll “Transatlantic Trends”. The poll was conducted for the 11th time by TNS for the German Marshall Fund …

Two French ministers are meeting the Romanian government to discuss ways to improve the living conditions of the Roma people in Romania.The French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, and France’s Europe minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, are due to hold talks with the Romanian President, Romanian Prime Minister and other officials in the …

The EU’s Director General for Enlargement, Stefano Sannino, said that failure to deal with the Sejdic-Finci ruling by an August 31 deadline did not mean that Bosnia should abandon work on the rest of the EU “Road Map”.The director general of enlargement at the European Commission, Stefano Sannino, issued a …