Balkans

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will pay a formal visit to Macedonia on Wednesday upon an invitation of his Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić said that he hopes that Serbia’s EU integration process will be sped up once the ICJ gives its opinion on Kosovo. The court is currently deliberating the legality under international law of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration.

The European Union must decide on a modality to help debt-laden Greece this week, or run the risk of causing a serious disruption for the euro currency, EU monetary affairs chief said. “There is already the technical preparedness. Now we need a political decision. This is also important to Greece …

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is slated to meet senior EU officials as well as Greek PM George Papandreou during his 2-day visit to Brussels. PM Gruevski is scheduled to meet President of EU Council Herman Van Rompuy, President of European Parliament

Serbia and Croatia may be on their way to warming up ties as Serbian President Boris Tadic is set to meet today, for the first time, with his Croatian counterpart, Ivo Josipovic, in the Croatian seaside resort of Opatija.

More than one year after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the genocide committed in Srebrenica in 1995 and called on all European countries to do the same, it is still not clear if politicians in Serbia will follow suit. Discussion starts on the resolution today.

The Ambassadors of the US, Spain and Austria to Sofia voiced optimism about Bulgaria’s future during a working breakfast with representatives of the country’s business. The Tuesday meeting was organized by the Bulgarian Forum of Business Leaders.

Albanian President Bamir Topi said on Monday (March 22nd) that by removing existing visa barriers, Albania will be brought closer to the EU. Albania is undertaking a series of reforms, especially in its justice system, Topi said after meeting in Tirana with Eduard Kukan, head of the European Parliament (EP) …

The government wants the questionnaire on trade with EU countries to be sent to the bloc no later than April 7th, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told a cabinet meeting Monday (March 22nd). Thaci added that the questionnaire from the EC is significant, as it includes many elements of the Stabilisation …

Members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested a former Bosnian Muslim commander Monday (March 22nd) for war crimes committed against Croatian civilians and prisoners of war during the 1992-1995 conflict. Hasan Hakalovic, 63, commanded a unit operating in the village of Trusina and allegedly failed to punish …