Balkans

EU ministers on Wednesday in Brussels are to count the latest figures on asylum claims from the Western Balkans, and decide how to curb a trend that has accelerated since visas were scrapped. EU ministers are to assess whether the number of Balkan asylum-seekers is rising or declining, and decide …

Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci said that the institutions in the country are about to set the supremacy of the law in North Kosovo, where the majority of the residents are ethnic Serbs, and to close the historical chapter of the clash between Kosovo and Serbia.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has confirmed that €96 million of funding from a special Balkans assistance package will be allocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, Fuele had suspended the allocation after political infighting broke out between leaders in Bosnia’s two semi-autonomous entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FBiH, …

Croatia’s accession to the European Union will offer a new hope for the entire western Balkan region, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said after meeting his Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandrokovic on Monday. “The accession treaty will be signed in December, ahead of Christmas,” said Sikorski, whose

European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia, Jelko Kacin, said on Monday that along with EU candidate status, Serbia should also get a date for the beginning of negotiations. He pointed out, however, that in order to make progress in the Euro-integration process, the country needed to resolve the issue of Kosovo.

A delegation headed by Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov has ended a working visit to Uzbekistan. Traikov held meetings with Uzbek Economy Minister Galina Saidova and Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade Minister Ravshan Gulyamov.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the situation in northern Kosovo and KFOR’s role will be one of the key topics of the NATO defence ministers’ meeting this week. The summit will be held in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has called on KFOR and EULEX to protect the Serb community in Kosovo. He said that the fact that the international community kept silent about the killings was unacceptable.

European Commission (EC) report on Serbia has already been written and the Commission is now working out some minor details. The only part that is unfinished is the one that refers to Kosovo.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha will pay an official visit to Macedonia by the end of October. Berisha was supposed to visit Macedonia in May 2010 after an invitation by Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski but the trip was cancelled