Balkans

The government announced plans Wednesday to allocate around 4m euros for implementation of a strategy to put northern Kosovo under the control of Pristina rather than Belgrade-backed parallel structures.

The reforms for the country’s EU accession have been seriously delayed, which is dangerous for the future of the country, said Radmila Sekerinska, chairperson of the Macedonian National Council for European Integration and MP from the oppositional Social Democratic Union for Integration (SDSM).

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov will meet Thursday with Branko Crvenkovski, President of the Republic of Macedonia in the period 2004-2009, the President’s press secretariat informed. The meeting will take place at 11:00 a.m. local time.

A realistic date for Serbia to acquire a status of EU candidate-country is June 2011, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic said. In an interview with Novosti daily, Djelic said the EU

The support for Macedonia’s EU and NATO integration remains a vital element in US efforts to promote peace and stability in the Balkan region. US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

Slovenian MEP Zoran Thaler will hold lecture on „Macedonia’s EU integration and name issue“, Thursday afternoon in Skopje. Zoran Thaler is EP rapporteur on Macedonia. The lecture, which will take place in the Congress center at Skopje fair, will be open for the public.

Bulgaria wants to participate in the European missile shield, and it is in its interests to do so, according to the Foreign Ministry. Speaking in an interview with Dnevnik published on April 15 2010, Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov said

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has welcomed the message of reconciliation sent by Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, and stated that the move marks a step towards building better relations across the region.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has delivered in Brussels a copy of his country’s completed European Union pre-accession questionnaire, and faced criticism over the country’s deadlocked political situation from the EU enlargement commissioner.

The country will close its EU accession negotiations on the free movement of goods chapter during next week’s inter-governmental conference, local media reported on Tuesday (April 13th). So far, Zagreb has wrapped up negotiations on 17 of the 30 chapters it has opened.