Balkans

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has announced a cabinet reshuffle in a bid to get support for the austerity measures which have split his ruling party. Evangelos Venizelos, once Papandreou’s biggest rival, is the new finance minister. He had been in charge of defense and has now also been appointed …

Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić said on Thursday in Brussels that Serbia’s goal was to start accession talks with the EU in the spring of 2012. He urged the EU to be firm but just, and not to invent new obstacles to block Serbia’s European future. The Serbian deputy …

The European Commission (EC) has opened three infringement procedures against Bulgaria over a flawed public procurement tender and the country’s failure to incorporate two Directives into its national legislation.

Un important oficial NATO a declarat că Alianţa Nord-Atlantică nu va face presiuni asupra Serbiei să adere la această organizaţie, ci doreşte să consolideze relaţiile cu ţara balcanică pe care a bombardat-o în 1999, relatează AP. Generalul Stephane Abrial, care conduce unul dintre cele două comandamente “supreme” ale NATO – …

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said on Wednesday in Sarajevo that Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)’s membership in the EU was equally important to all parties.

Slavo Kukic, Bosnia’s nominee premier, looks highly unlikely to get support from Serb representatives in parliament, in which case Bosnia’s eight-month search for a Prime Minister goes on. Bosnia looks unlikely to get a new Prime Minister at the end of this week, after Bosnian Serbs said they would veto …

Serbian Labor Minister Rasim Ljajić conferred on Wednesday in Belgrade with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg. They discussed ways to establish “the full truth about the trafficking of human organs in Kosovo”.

A visiting U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday that Serbia and the United States had improved their bilateral relations. They shared the same vision of Serbia in the European Union, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon.

Greece has decided to inform its partners, allies and international organizations about plans for a monument to be constructed in Skopje. Athens believes that the decision to build the monument, named “Warrior on a Horse”, is an act of provocation.

Angry youths hurled petrol bombs at Greece’s Finance Ministry and tens of thousands of protesters marched on parliament on Wednesday to oppose government efforts to pass new