Balkans

A fire on the hill above Podgorica briefly threatened homes and nearby embassies – one of several blazes attributed to the prolonged hot dry weather and the wind.Residents of Podgorica were shocked on Monday night when Mt Gorica, the hill after which the capital is named, caught fire. The blaze …

New Central Bank data show that consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in seven years.According to the bank, consumer confidence in the economy slid by 1.3 point in the second quarter of 2012, compared with its last estimate. The index registered the outlook of Albanian consumers towards the …

Construction of four 42-storey skyscrapers, set to be the tallest buildings in Macedonia, started on Monday in Skopje.The Turkish company, Cevahir Holding, plans to invest some 300 million euro in the project that should be completed within three years in the Skopje municipality of Aerodrom.The complex will hold a mix …

Right-wing opposition party says Croatia’s EU accession will affect Polish interests – and so needs to be ratified in parliament by a two-thirds majority.Opposition nationalists in Poland are attempting to set conditions on Croatia’s EU accession, on the grounds that Croatian membership will affect Poland’s influence and its share of …

“In Bosnia the government and its politicians are not only unable to resolve the problems; they have become a key problem themselves,” report by prominent think tank warns.In a report published on Friday, the International Crisis Group, ICG, a leading think tank, warns that Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the risk …

The Constitutional Court of Serbia has decided to overturn a decision by the High Judicial Council and reappoint 126 judges sacked as part of controversial judicial reforms.The Constitutional Court of Serbia accepted the complaints of 126 judges who were dismissed from the courts after the judicial reforms of 2009. The …

Ban Ki-moon will visit the former Yugoslavia for a week, starting July 19, a Belgrade newspaper reported – noting the Serbian President’s concern of the nature of his visit to Kosovo.This will be the first visit to the region by a UN Secretary General since the dissolution of Yugoslavia. According …

The deputy prime minister and the deputy finance minister resigned on Monday, facing corruption charges, while the recently resigned ministry of justice returned to his post.Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi and Deputy Finance Minister Astrit Haraqija resigned on Monday while they are investigated for corruption. In a further shake-up of …

Constitutional Court ruling, that some provisions of the law on Serbia’s northern province are not in line with the constitution, reveals liberal-nationalist split.The court ruling has revealed sharp divides in Serbia between liberals who champion provincial autonomy and nationalists who see it as a threat to Serbian unity. Bojan Pajtic, …

Montenegro and its Bosniak community marked the 17th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide by saying that the country has still not fully faced up to its past, and naming one of the streets in the capital after a Bosnian war hero.An NGO forum of Bosniaks and Muslims, the Parliament of …