Balkans

In March 2012, the sea and air borders of Bulgaria and Romania should be included in the passport-free Schengen area and their land borders are expected to follow in July, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said. He was speaking during his visit to Brussels, where he attended the European Council …

KFOR commander general Erhard Drevs has said a new meeting with representatives of Kosovan Serbs might take place on Saturday. Meanwhile, ethnic Serbs are reinforcing the barricades close to the village of Zupce.

The checkpoints on the Macedonian-Greek border are open again. The checkpoints were closed due to Greek customs officers’ strike, which ended on Friday morning. Busy traffic is expected at all checkpoints.

Macedonia is prepared to achieve its strategic objective and fulfilling the tasks assigned. That’s why it expects European conduct from the EU, said Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. “We have experienced many things in the past 20 years and we are prepared to achieve its strategic objective,” said Ivanov.

Albania’s government has ratified an agreement which unifies consular services and practices with Kosovo and halves costs for both countries. “Albanians should feel the same in Tirana and Pristina,” Prime Minister Sali Berisha during a cabinet meeting yesterday. He added that similar practices should be followed in other areas like …

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc has vowed to closely monitor the European Council summit on Sunday 23 October, adding that he expects a vote to be held on Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen bids. On Thursday Boc acknowledged that both countries were facing certain political obstacles to their Schengen entry but …

The Hague Tribunal prosecution on Thursday submitted for the judges’ confirmation the third amended indictment against Ratko Mladić. The former military leader of Serbs in Bosnia is facing the added count for the execution by a firing squad of around 30 Muslims in the Šekovici municipality

Eight international peacekeepers were injured on Thursday during an operation to remove barricades set up by Serbs in northern Kosovo, the NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force (KFOR) said. “Eight KFOR soldiers were injured so far in the operation,” KFOR’s press office said in a statement. “They were injured by tear gas, …

KFOR started removing ethnic Serbs’ barricades in North Kosovo on Thursday morning. At 5:45 a.m. local time NATO headed to the barricades with armored carriers and started removing them. The peacekeeping troops called on Serbs to withdraw, saying they would use force. The Serbs refused to leave the site and …

He also called on northern Kosovo Serb leaders to make decisions that are in citizens’ best interest. “I demand from KFOR and EULEX to restrain themselves from the use of force and from local leaders to make decisions that are exclusively in the vital interest of our people in Kosovo …