Balkans

After last night’s meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon said that Athens’ position on name issue is clear, adding that they expressed will in solving name issue.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Serbian President Boris Tadic are expected to meet EU officials this week to discuss the possibility for Pristina-Belgrade talks. The two are set to meet with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in New York. The first meeting will be a “symbolic”, meaning that …

Matthew Nimetz, the UN mediator in the name row between Macedonia and Greece, said he sees a positive development in the dispute, but he didn’t table any new proposal during the late Sunday’s meeting with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has welcomed the prospect of “new relations” with Belgrade, following last week’s adoption of its resolution on Kosovo at the UN General Assembly.

Macedonia and Serbia agreed on Saturday (September 18th) to allow their citizens to cross the common border with ID cards instead of passports. The initiative was announced after a meeting in Skopje between Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska and her Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic. The measure will initially be implemented

A new mass grave containing remains of victims of the 1992-1995 war in BiH has been discovered, media reported on Friday (September 17th). The site is near Sanski Most, 150km northwest of Sarajevo. Experts believe that the grave could contain remains of about 20 people.

Romanian President Traian Basescu will make a visit to Bulgaria on 23 September, the first visit of a Romanian head of state in that country in the last seven years, the Bulgarian ambassador to Bucharest, said. “We, in Romania and Bulgaria are in a process of expanding relations. In the …

Hungary wants Serbia in the EU as soon as possible, Hungary’s PMs stressed on Thursday in talks with their Serbian counterparts.

General Secretary of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on the member states of the Alliance not to hurry with the withdrawal of their troops from Kosovo, until general decision to be taken.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele is expected in Belgrade today. Fuele says Serbia’s candidate status request should be considered in October. He also said that the European Commission is ready to commence that process within only a few days.