Balkans

Serbs in northern Kosovo removed a barricade this morning to let through a convoy of Russian humanitarian aid enter northern Kosovo. The barricade was located in front of the Jarnje administrative line checkpoint, in the area that’s part of central Serbia.

As Brussels is encouraging Belgrade to resolve issues with Kosovo in order to get EU candidacy in March, Serbian opposition parties are calling the government to resign. EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has told Belgrade that the European Commission will help Serbia on its integration path in any way it …

Serbia’s former European integration minister Bozidar Djelic, who stepped down on Friday, has raised doubts over whether Belgrade would get EU candidacy status by a new deadline next March. “If you’re asking me if the candidacy status is a sure thing in March, the answer is no,” Djelic said. Djelic …

Serbia’s future is in the EU and it is only for the EU to be able to solve the Kosovo issue, said Serbian President Boris Tadic. In Tadic’s words, the government’s policy towards Kosovo is not rigid but rather winning and his party will run at the elections following this …

Bulgaria’s outgoing President Georgi Parvanov called for a debate in his country about Friday’s EU Council decisions regarding the fiscal discipline in the bloc. Parvanov declared he was

MEPs from the joint EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Committee warned Tirana on Friday to speed up reforms or risk missing out on the integration process. “Albania could miss the train heading toward the EU,” Slovak MEP Eduard Kukan said in a meeting in Tirana with Albania opposition and government MPs.

Bozidar Djelic, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, resigned from the post after Brussels delayed the decision over the country’s EU bid. Djelic told reporters in Brussels that Friday’s decision of the European Council to examine Serbia’s candidacy bid in March “was not what Serbia had expected.”

Despite strong pressure from other EU countries, the Netherlands has refused to agree to Bulgaria and Romania joining the open border Schengen zone. The two countries have not still done enough to combat corruption and organized crime, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. The EU will consider the question again …

A decision by the European Union on whether to grant Serbia candidate status will be taken by EU foreign ministers in February, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said Friday. 

Greece has called on the Macedonian government to remain dedicated to the negotiations about the name dispute.