Balkans

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 …

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 …

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 …

Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic was appointed assistant to UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon. Simonovic will be in charge of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in New York.

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 …

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

Kosovo Albanian government’s foreign minister, Skender Hyseni, called on EU to avoid making the “essential mistake” of postponing Kosovo’s integration. He said that he believed that the European Union “will make an essential mistake if it postpones Kosovo’s integration process too much” adding that the process should be sped up.

Bulgaria finds itself in good position to balance the situation in the Balkans, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said at the meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Maldenov, the press office of the Foreign Ministry announced.

Germany’s Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says Germany will soon have 1,000 troops deployed in Kosovo, in contrast to the current 3,500 serving under KFOR. He told the German daily Welt am Sonntag on Sunday (May 2nd) that stability and security indicate troops can begin leaving, adding that the mission in …

Slovenian Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee on Monday upheld the motion for referendum on the border arbitration deal between Slovenia and Croatia. The representatives of all parlaimentary groups backed the motion for referendum, and it is very likely to be adopted by parlaiment later today. The agreement, signed last year by …