Balkans

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov will arrive in Greece for a brief visit on Wednesday, the country’s Foreign Ministry has announced. In Athens, Mladenov will meet with his Greek counterpart Stavros Dimas. The two Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss their countries’ bilateral relations, as well as the situation in …

Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi describes move as ‘a new beginning’ for Kosovo and for its relations with Brussels. Dialogue between the European Commission and Kosovo on visa liberalisation will start on January 19, the European Commission liaison office in Pristina has announced.

Croatia and Slovenia have agreed on the members of the arbitration panel tasked with settling their border dispute, and the panel’s work is set to begin. The court’s president will be Gilbert Guillaume of France, while the other two members will be Bruno Simma

The NATO’s Military Committee (MC) will meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The meeting will debate on Kosovo and it will be addressed by KFOR Commander Erhard Drews and EULEX Chief Xavier Bout de Marnhac. The MC will also meet in NATO-Russia Council …

Thousands of angry Greek workers marched to parliament on Tuesday to protest against austerity, waving banners reading “EU, IMF out!” as Athens’ lenders arrived for talks in a race against the clock to avert a bankruptcy.

As Vjekoslav Bevanda started official consultations with his proposed ministers, he expressed confidence about the future priorities of the new state government. After receiving the necessary approvals last week, Bosnia’s new Prime Minister, Vjekoslav Bevanda, on January 16 officially opened consultations with future ministers.

Serbia’s foreign minister Vuk Jeremic says that if Belgrade is asked to renounce UN Resolution 1244 on Kosovo, it is unlikely the country will become an EU candidate in March. “As the president has said, the condition posed in December 2011 was a condition Serbia could not accept – renouncing …

Montenegro’s foreign minister says that establishment of the rule of law will be the priority as Podgorica forms its negotiating team for accession talks with the EU. “The priority is to establish a negotiating structure and a working group that will stick to the rule of law,” said Foreign Minister …

Bulgaria and Israel have signed two military agreements at a meeting of their Defense Ministers, Anyu Angelov and Ehud Barak, in Tel Aviv. The first agreement provides for joint military drills between the armed forces of Bulgaria and Israel, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry announced.

The Serbian Foreign Ministry’s annual Ambassadors’ Conference is being held in Belgrade on Monday. The gathering will be addressed by