Balkans

The Serbian parliament is expected to today in Belgrade vote on the draft declaration condemning the Srebrenica crime. The draft is supported by 114 MPs of the ruling coaling from the DS-led group, and G17 Plus, PUPS and the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Hungarian foreign minister Peter Balazs said that is unrealistic to expect that all western Balkan countries would be eligible to join the European Union by 2014, as proposed by Greece. Hungary, however, remains prepared to help towards the region’s future European integration, the minister said during a meeting in Budapest …

The Australian High Court ruled today that suspected war criminal Dragan Vasiljkovic, known as Captain Dragan, can be extradited to Croatia to face trial for alleged war crimes. The High Court overturned an earlier Federal Court decision that Vasiljkovic cannot be extradited because of the possibility that he will not …

A two-day meeting of the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee kicks off on Monday (March 29th) in Zagreb. Lawmakers will discuss Croatia’s EU integration process, judicial reforms and the fight against corruption and organised crime, as well as regional co-operation. Members of the European Parliament will meet with President Ivo Josipovic …

Italian Ambassador to Kosovo Michael Giffoni does not rule out the possibility of co-operation between the EU presence in the north and Serbs representing parallel structures there. In an interview with the Pristina-based daily Koha Ditore on Monday (March 29th), Giffoni said he will implement an EU plan aimed at …

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić will meet with his Hungarian, Greek and Croatian counterparts in Budapest on Monday. The main topic of the talks will be the regional stabilization process and the EU integration of the Western Balkans, the minister announced. “A meeting between Hungary, Greece, Croatia and Serbia will …

Ministry for Kosovo State Secretary Oliver Ivanović said that it is important for the EU to remain status-neutral in Kosovo. He said that Serbs in northern Kosovska Mitrovica have nothing to worry about regarding the opening of the new so-called “European House” EU office in the city. Ivanović said that …

Croatia has sent a request for the extradition of Nikola Munjes from Monetenegro after his arrest in the country last week. Munjes, 42, was arrested on March 24 in Bar and has been held in an extradition detention unit since his arrest. Police acted on an arrest warrant issued by …

Senior EU and US officials will travel to Sarajevo in April to meet with Bosnian leaders in an apparent attempt to ease political tensions that have been mounting in the ethnically fragmented Balkan country as it prepares to hold general elections in October.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić denied reports linking the ICJ ruling in the Kosovo case with the arrest of Ratko Mladić. The delay in announcing the advisory opinion on the legality of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the arrest of the wartime …