Balkans

The government reiterated two days ago its intention to build a fence along the country’s border with Turkey to stop the crossing of illegal migrants. This statement received criticism from European officials, who advised Greece to reform its asylum system instead. The Greek government rejected the advice. “‘It is duplicitous …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele is confirming that Albania has been denied candidate status because of its longstanding political stalemate. “It is one of the main political criteria, the Copenhagen Criteria, which is linked with the political stalemate that affects the functioning of democratic institutions, such as the parliament,” Fuele …

France supports Serbia’s bid for EU candidate status, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Tuesday (January 4th) after meeting with French Minister for European Affairs Laurent Wauquiez in Paris. Wauquiez, however, stressed the importance of meeting all EU-set criteria.

The Bosniak club in Republika Srpska’s (RS) Council of Peoples blocked the appointment of the new entity’s government on Tuesday (January 4th), claiming their vital national interests were not respected. None

The Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) parliamentary group in the Council of Peoples of the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska has raised a question about the protection of their vital national interest in the formation of the entity’s new cabinet. The Bosniak parliamentary group has vetoed a decision to appoint the new …

Bosnian officials are keen to impress upon the public that the financial crisis is in receding; however, statistics tell a different story for 2011 – a new year that is likely to be a more financially trying one for the citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina. As of first day of the year, …

Later this week, Bosnia’s ethnonationalist Bosniak Democratic Party of Action (SDA) will have to decide whether it will take part in a meeting to discuss the formation of a new central government following 3 October general elections. The meeting, which is scheduled to take place on 10 January, was called …

Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, has announced that he will begin legal proceedings against former High Representative to Bosnia, British diplomat Paddy Ashdown. According to the outspoken Dodik, who enjoys the spotlight, Ashdown will be sued before the UK court by early February for his “arrogant …

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has likened the recently leaked Council of Europe report – which accuses Thaci of leading an organized crime network smuggling everything from weapons and drugs to human organs harvested from kidnapped Serbs – to Nazi-style propaganda, and its author, Swiss Senator Dick Marty to Joseph …

The Netherlands has a positive attitude towards Bulgaria’s efforts to cover the Schengen accession criteria. “We recognize and welcome the efforts put bu Bulgaria into carrying out the reforms necessary