Balkans

Serbian team chief negotiator Borko Stefanović says that it will take time and patience for negotiations between Belgrade and Priština to produce results. “We do not lack good will and new solutions. The process will last as long as necessary,” Stefanović said.

The foreign ministers of Austria, Slovenia and Bulgaria — Michael Spindelegger, Samuel Zbogar and Nikolay Mladenov respectively– will visit Sarajevo on Monday (March 7th) to meet with members of the BiH tripartite

A court in the Austrian town of Korneuburg on Friday (March 4th) remanded Bosnian Army General Jovan Divjak to 14 days in custody pending extradition. Divjak was detained on Thursday at the Vienna airport based on

In Albania, the main opposition Socialist Party threatened on Friday (March 4th) to hold a new wave of protests calling for early elections, starting with one on Tuesday. The opposition accuses the cabinet of corruption and manipulation of the 2009 parliamentary elections. A January 21st anti-government rally in Tirana ended …

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that talks on Cyprus’ reunification cannot drag on forever, media reported on Friday (March 4th). In a progress report to the UN Security Council, he voices concern about the slow pace of talks between Cypriot leaders, warning that upcoming elections in Turkey and Cyprus …

The new European Union ambassador to Macedonia Peter Sorensen will hand his credentials over to Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov on Friday. Sorensen takes over from outgoing EU mission head Erwan Fouere.

Bosnian wartime general Jovan Divjak was arrested in Vienna by Austrian authorities on a Serbian arrest warrant for participating in war crimes. He was arrested yesterday at 8:00 pm at Vienna airport as he flew in from Sarajevo and was on his way to Bologna, Italy. Prosecutors in Korneuburg, near …

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has called on the opposition to return to the parliament so that the necessary laws on organizing early elections could be put to the vote. “If they do not return to the parliament, we will call elections, no matter if they would boycott them,” said …

Croatian President Ivo Josipović and several Croat MPs welcomed Belgrade’s decision to drop charges against Tihomir Purda and two others. Josipović stressed that cooperation between countries had been seen to be the best way to prevent injustices such as the one suffered by Purda from being made. 

Belgrade-Priština negotiations will begin next week, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton’s Spokeswoman Maja Kocijančić announced. Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Slobodan Petrović thinks that a priority should be the missing persons issue and other issues that concern every day life in Kosovo, such as license plates and personal …