Balkans

The government will deliver its answers to additional questions on the EC questionnaire Monday (April 12th). Montenegrin authorities received 673 extra questions in early March. The first set of answers was submitted in December 2009.

A petition against the trial of Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement leader Albin Kurti will be sent to the UN, the EU and to the Council of Europe. The council opposing the trial announced on Sunday (April 11th) that the

Povjerenje među političkim liderima u BiH potpuno je srušeno nakon pada aprilskog paketa ustavnih promjena zbog čega su svi naredni pregovori okončani skoro potpuno bezuspješno. Smatra to Mladen Ivanić, predsjednik PDP-a, i učesnik skoro svih političkih pregovora koji su počeli prije pet godina pregovorima o promjeni Ustava, a rezultirali tzv. …

The name issue should not overshadow Macedonia’s forthcoming presidency of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, the Council of Europe Secretary General said.

Early mayoral elections were held in the municipality of Istok in Kosovo on Sunday. Several minor incidents at polling stations were reported during the voting. The elections went without any major problems, but several political parties and the NGO coalition “Democracy in Action” stated that there were incidents reported.

The Spanish government has decided to extradite suspected war criminal Veselin Vlahovic, who is wanted by Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro for a variety of crimes, but Spanish authorities did not indicate to which country Vlahovic will be extradited.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that Serbia and Croatia have talked about finding a solution that could allow an out-of-court settlement and trials before regular courts to replace the genocide lawsuits the two countries have filed against one another at the International Court of Justice, ICJ.

Charles Tannock, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Montenegro, has said that the European Commission will likely complete its report on Montenegro’s readiness to become an EU candidate by the fall, which could allow the country to obtain EU candidate status by the end of this year.

On the last stop of his Balkans tour, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg visited Kosovo and met with President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Steinberg praised the Kosovo government for the most recent municipal elections, claiming that such elections signal the building of an inclusive …

Prime Minister George Papandreou said that Greece may have to use a proposed EU-IMF financial aid package. On last Sunday, Papandreou said resorting to the mechanism is not his country’s ” first option ” , but it may be needed. ” The question remains whether this mechanism will convince markets …