Balkans

The European Commission warned that there is no alternative for solving the Cyprus issue after nationalist Dervis Eroglu won the presidential elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is recognized only by Ankara.

The Slovenian parliament ratified on Monday a border arbitration deal with Croatia vital for Zagreb’s EU membership bid, but the deal still faces a much tougher test at a June referendum in Slovenia.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, is set to visit Macedonia on Tuesday, April 20. Spain’s chief diplomat will meet with Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, President Djorge Ivanov, Prime Minister

Sjednice međudržavnih vijeća BiH i Srbije, odnosno BiH i Hrvatske vjerovatno neće biti održane do kraja mandata aktuelnog saziva Predsjedništva BiH zbog neslaganja unutar kolektivnog šefa države Bosne i Hercegovine. Predsjedavajući Predsjedništva BiH Haris Silajdžić protivi se održavanju sjednice Međudržavnog vijeća sa Srbijom, opravdavajući taj potez riječima da je Srbija …

NATO Military Committee Chairman Giampaolo di Paolo and Allied Joint Force Command Naples Commander Mark Fitzgerald will not be visitng Kosovo today. They were scheduled to meet with the KFOR commander, Gen. Markus Bentler, and chiefs of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF), it was announced previously.

The Sunday election inside the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of the North Cyprus were won by the prime minister Dervish Eroglu, the leader of the National Unity. After processing 98,5% of the voting bulletins, Eroglu got 50,4% from the votes and his main opponent present president, Mehmet Ali Talat got 42,8%. …

Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović will arrive in Sofia today on a one-day visit to Bulgaria. There, she is due to met with the country’s top-ranking officials. Đukić-Dejanović is scheduled to meet with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, as well as with Bulgaria’s Parliament Speaker Tsetska …

The US Ambassador to Bulgaria, James Warlick, has stated that the US missile shield will be discussed in Bulgaria over the coming years. “This is a very early stage of a process that will be discussed in NATO, Europe and Bulgaria in the coming years,” Warlick stated

Vojislav Seselj is scheduled to appear once again in the contempt of court case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY. The hearing is scheduled for April 20. Seselj, the leader of the Serb Radical Party, SRS, is currently on trial for war crimes committed in Bosnia …

High Representative Valentin Inzko said on Saturday (April 17th) that BiH’s EU visa liberalisation process may be delayed by three or four months, beyond the summer timeframe. “Some were hoping, including myself, that this will happen on July 1st, in the beginning of the holiday season,” Inzko told Deutsche Welle. …