Balkans

The Netherlands will block proposals to admit Romania and Bulgaria into Europe’s passport-free travel zone until the two newest EU members persuade it they are making progress in fighting corruption, a Dutch minister said

Europe is satisfied with the reforms in Serbia, said Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. Cvetkovic remarked that all countries that are given the status of a EU member state candidate under conditions connected only to the reforms, while Serbia obtained the status for keeping the dialogue with Pristina.

Macedonia is ready for a NATO membership, said Macedonian Minister of Defence Fatmir Besimi. “Macedonia has done the needed reforms, following the NATO standards, and takes part in peacekeeping missions. The country is ready for a full membership in the Alliance,” Besimi remarked.

Bosnia and Serbia reached a deal on Wednesday to enable them to track down and prosecute fugitives suspected of committing war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, officials said. The announcement is seen as a major breakthrough in

Serbs in volatile North Kosovo attacked NATO peacekeepers in KFOR, injuring 21, after they moved to dismantle a Serb barricade. The violence erupted shortly after midnight on Wedneday when angry Serbs massed to stop peacekeepers from removing a roadblock on the road from Mitrovica to the Serbian border at Jarinje.

Dutch parliament’s European Affairs Committee says Montenegro should not receive a date for a start to EU accession negotiations, citing alleged failures to curb corruption. The Dutch parliament will decide its formal position later this month.

Pristina court finds Fahredin Gashi guilty of war crimes following testimony of self-styled former Kosovo secret service agent and hitman, Nazim Bllaca. Former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, fighter Fahredin Gashi was sentenced on Wednesday

The Belgrade-Priština talks will continue on November 30, shortly before the European Council is scheduled to decide on Serbia’s EU candidate status. The two-day talks that ended on Tuesday in Brussels yielded results regarding mutual recognition of university diplomas, which is not the case with the administrative crossings.

The European Parliament (EP) Committee on Foreign Relations discussed Tuesday a draft resolution on Kosovo. The draft resolution rejects the idea of Kosovo partition and proposes the implementation of Ahtisaari’s plan for the north of the province.

Croatia on Tuesday charged five former members of the military with torturing Serb prisoners of war at the start of the conflict that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The five men — a commander and his four subordinates