Balkans

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele expressed concern again Tuesday (May 11th) about the political stalemate in Albania that he says is hampering the EU integration process. A ten-day hunger strike by the opposition is complicating the situation, he noted. Spain, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, is urging politicians …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said on Tuesday (May 11th) that Kosovo must do two things — implement re-admission agreements and integrate returnees — before the EU can even consider initiating a dialogue on visa liberalisation. “It is important that Kosovo too understands and knows the conditions,” Fuele said, adding …

Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni has asked Belgrade to provide facts about mass graves dating from the 1998-1999 conflict. “Serbia is responsible to make mass grave sites containing Albanian bodies public,” Hyseni was quoted as saying on Tuesday (May 11th). The latest one, believed to contain the bodies of 250 Kosovo …

Bulgaria is ready to offer Bosnia and Herzegovina practical help for the implementation of its NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), Foreign Minister Mladenov stated. Mladenov met in Sarajevo with his Bosnian counterpart, Sven Alkalaj, as part of his Western Balkans diplomatic tour.

Germany’s government says it will keep up to 2,500 troops in Kosovo for at least another year as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission. Government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said the Cabinet approved extending the mandate while also cutting the maximum number of soldiers by 1,000 from 3,000. He says Germany …

Kosovo Albanian government’s Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni says Priština is ready to participate in the Western Balkans-EU conference in Sarajevo. But Kosovo Albanian officials, he explained, wish to have an “equal status”.

Radovan Karadzic once again questioned facts established previously by the ICTY regarding the massacre at the Markale market during the Bosnian war, in an apparent effort to get confirmation from the prosecution witness that the incident was staged by the Bosnian government.

Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikolay Mladenov, has showed his support for the strengthening of the state institutions in Kosovo so as “to protect the rights of all ethnic communities.” Mladenov was speaking after meeting with his counterpart in Pristina Skender Hyseni and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci, as part of his …

Speaker of the Montenegrin parliament Ranko Krivokapić stated that Serbia was “not capable of organizing a good state meeting”. “As far as I’m concerned, my visit to Serbia was finished on May 8 and 9 and I will invite my counterpart to come to Montenegro because I reckon that Serbia …

Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Bramerc will kick off his 2-day visit to Belgrade on Wednesday. His visit is in the course of the preparations for submitting the regular report on UN Security Council towards mid-June. His assessment on Belgrade’s cooperation will have impact on whether EU will ratify the …