Balkans

Euro zone finance ministers early this morning withheld the release of a EUR 12 billion loan to Greece, saying they could not authorise the release of the money until the Greek parliament backed a swingeing new austerity plan.

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic said that it is not in Serbia’s interest to ever recognize the independence of its breakaway province of Kosovo. He said that should that happen then Serbia could well expect new declarations of independence in other quarters.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will be in Bulgaria July 03 on an official two-day visit. This will be the first official visit of a Turkish head of state to the country. The visit will be used to discuss opportunities for boosting bilateral cooperation and the implementation of joint projects in …

Creation of a “Greater Albania” would harm not only Serbs but also other neighboring nations, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanović has said. He added that this would also destabilize the entire region and that the Serbian government opposed forming any unreal countries.

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga has stated that partition of Kosovo and exchange of territory are not good solutions. She said that Kosovo would not discuss its internal issues with anyone. Jahjaga stressed that she could not say whether Belgrade would request partition “although the parties in the dialogue do not …

Western Balkan countries’ foreign ministers will meet with their counterparts from the EU member states in Luxembourg on Monday. They will discuss cooperation as a part of the stabilization and association process. This is a regular ministerial meeting as a part of the EU-Western Balkans Forum. 

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday called for a referendum on constitutional reform in the fall. Speaking in parliament, Papandreou said the referendum should discuss “changes to the political system” but

Top international envoy to Bosnia Valentin Inzko urged Bosnia’s ethnically divided politicians on Thursday to quickly form a government after the nomination of Bosnian Croat Slavo Kukic as prime minister. “The political elite of Bosnia-Hercegovina must agree as quickly as possible on the formation of a new government. Eight and …

Vincent Degert, head of the European Union’s delegation to Serbia, announced on Thursday the formation of a joint regional body to resolve the refugee problems resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Freshly elected MPs in the Social-Democrat-led opposition bloc have announced they are forming their own caucus – but deny plans to join the rightist government. Two prominent opposition MPs, Tito Petkovski and Fijat Canovski, announced