Balkans

Brussels meeting doesn’t budge Albania crisis

Members of the European Parliament meeting in Brussels with their Albanian counterparts did not succeed in attempts to help find a compromise between representatives of the Albanian ruling and opposition parties. The two sides notably failed to produce a final declaration, which is generally issued at such meetings.

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Bulgarian Foreign Minister starts Western Balkans tour

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov, who has underlined the Western Balkans’ place in his country’s foreign policy priorities, has started a tour of the region that from May 5 to 14 2010 will take him to Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. Mladenov, Foreign Minister in the …

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Israel FM Advises Direct Skopje-Athens Dialogue

Direct dialogue between Macedonia and Greece is the best way of overcoming the long lasting bilateral “name” dispute, visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told media in Skopje. “Direct dialogue between the two parties is the best way to resolve the issue. Both Greece and Macedonia are stable and they …

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Pristina, Belgrade May Begin Talks This Year

Pristina and Belgrade may begin talks on decentralisation, cultural heritage and the northern part of Kosovo later this year. The possibility that talks will be held has increased after several EU and US officials visited Kosovo and Serbia. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also said indirectly in Pristina that Kosovo …

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Serbian Parliament to discuss declaration on crimes

The Serbian Parliament Collegium will discuss a draft declaration condemning crimes against Serbs, it has been announced. These crimes were committed during the 1990s wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo during the NATO bombing. Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović distributed the draft to MPs, which will be discussed on Wednesday. The …

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Head of EU delegation to Serbia: More work for to be done for Serbia’s EU accession

Head of EU delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert says the country made significant steps on the EU pathway in 2009. Speaking in Niš, southern Serbia, on Tuesday, he added that there is yet more work to be done for its EU accession. Degert pointed out that the decision on visa …

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KFOR started two-day drills in the centre of Kosovo

The international forces in Kosovo /KFOR/ and the Kosovo authorities started two-day drills in the central part of the country, an official statement released by KFOR in Pristina reads. The aim of the drill is to improve the alertness and efficiency of KFOR within the new structure. “KFOR holds regular …

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Aid plan to Greece adopted in French lower house of parliament

The National Assembly (lower house of parliament) of France has adopted the aid plan to Greece, which provided a loan of EUR 16.8 billion over three years, of which EUR 3.9 billion for the year 2010. The financial amending bill, presented by the French Budget Minister Francois Baroin, was adopted …

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EU doesn’t like divisions, says envoy

EU for northern Kosovo Michael Giffoni said that more EU presence is needed in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica. “A feeling of some kind of division is very evident in (Kosovska) Mitrovica, and that is something that the EU does not like. In this part

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