Balkans

Prime Minister Sali Berisha asked his cabinet on Wednesday to send medical staff to Turkey and Jordan in order to help refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.“We should help these refugees and send our doctors, nurses, surgeons or even a field hospital as an offer of our solidarity,” Berisha said.

Bosnia’s Serb leader has called for the resignation of the Foreign Minister over the country’s vote on the UN resolution on Syria.The President of Republika Srpska, the Serb-lead entity in Bosnia, Milorad Dodik, said that the country’s Foreign Minister, Zlatko Lagumdzija, should leave the office accusing him of breaking the …

Kosovo citizens believe that the EU will solve all their economic and social welfare problems, a survey shows.Over 70% of Kosovo’s citizens would vote for membership of their country in the EU, if there was a referendum on the issue, a survey shows. The survey was financed by the “EU …

Serbia’s ruling Progressives say that the new government’s results in fighting corruption would become visible “very soon”.Serbian Progressive Party is preparing corruption-related arrests for September, Balkan Insight has learned from the party.The tackling corruption was one of the main goals in their election programme and campaign. Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian Deputy …

The Agriculture Minister of the Bosnian Federation entity says that any similarity between his party’s slogan and the one used in a recent agriculture commercial is coincidental.In a marketing campaign entitled “Buy Domestic,” the Agriculture Minister of the Bosniak-Croat Federation, Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic, encourages the population to buy domestic products. …

Bulgarian officials have begun verifying thousands of petition signatures calling for a referendum on the government’s decision to abandon construction of the Belene nuclear plant.State workers will spend the next three months verifying the names, addresses and social security numbers of the 770,000 signatures on the petition, which was submitted …

Opposition lawmakers are too afraid to sign a petition asking Kosovo’s Parliament to launch a probe into the work of the former secret agency SHIK, says an opposition MP.In a letter sent to the press, Florin Krasniqi, an MP from the Self-determination (Vetëvendosje) Movement, said that so far he has …

Romania’s Interior Minister and his deputy have resigned following controversy over the referendum to impeach the country’s President.“There were unacceptable political pressures on me. I have submitted my resignation to protect my honour,” Interior Minister Ioan Rus said on Monday. “I cannot accept that the ministry be part of not …

Bucharest is making its first repayment on a rescue package loan borrowed from international lenders.Romania is to repay 671 million euros on Monday, the first tranche of a 20-billion-euro rescue package from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank.

A Macedonian gay rights organisation announced on Thursday that the first Pride Parade in Skopje would be held next year.The organisation – the Council of the LGBT United – held a meeting and decided to form a body tasked with organising the first gay pride parade. According to the organisers, …