Balkans

Italian Lower House Speaker Gianfranco Fini will visit Serbia on Monday for talks with President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. Fini’s visit to Belgrade comes upon an invitation of Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Gukic-Dejanovic. The main focus of the meetings will be put on Serbia’s integration into the …

Prime Minister Borut Pahor on Friday (May 7th) called on Slovenians to support their country’s arbitration border agreement with Croatia at a referendum on June 6th. Speaking on the first day of a campaign ahead of the vote, Pahor said that the deal would improve relations with Zagreb, guarantee Slovenian …

NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is expected to visit Bulgaria on May 20, 2010, Bulgarian media report. This will be Rasmussen’s first visit to Bulgaria since he was appointed NATO’s secretary general in April 2009.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov will visit Belgrade, it was announced today. He will meet with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić and Chairman of the parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Dragoljub Mićunović.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić has rejected criticism coming from Croatia concerning his recent statements. The MFA in Zagreb accused the Serbian chief of diplomacy of “taking advantage“ of Croatian President Ivo Josipović’s recent apology at the Bosnia-Herzegovina parliament.

It is time for EC to get the green light to discuss Serbia’s request to receive EU candidate status, EU Delegation in Serbia chief Vincent Degert says. Degert said on Thursday in Belgrade that he believed that it was time that the EC received the green light from the EU …

“We had a very good conversation. We discussed mostly strategic issues and the future of the Western Balkans,” Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said during the joint press conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Mladenov.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday in Romania that the Alliance will continue its open door policy as regards countries in the Balkans and would like all the states in the region to join the European Union and NATO.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on Wednesday (May 5th) that parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on October 3rd. CEC President Irena Hadziabdic said that Bosnians will vote for members of the BiH presidency, central and entities’ parliaments, president and vice-president of Republika Srspska, as well as new …

The European Commission (EC) Liaison Office in Pristina will support the government in conducting a national census, head of mission Renzo Daviddi said on Wednesday (May 5th) after a meeting with Minister of Public Administration Edita Tahiri. They discussed the technicalities of the census, which is planned for spring 2011. …