Balkans

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hyseni said that Greece will be the next country to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Skender Hyseni also declared that after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in the Kosovo case, a series of countries and Greece will recognize Kosovo’s independence. Hyseni said that EU countries …

Greece aims and is able to solve its issues by itself, we want political, not economy support by the European Union and the international community. This is what Greek Prime Minster Georgiou Papandreou said. Papandreou stressed that Greece hadn’t sough economy support neither from the international community nor the EU.

Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should be able to travel to the EU without visas by July, announced Tanja Fajon, European Parliament Rapporteur for Visa Liberalization for West Balkan Countries before the Parliament of BiH on Monday.

Croatian President-Elect Ivo Josipovic reiterated that he regretted that his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, would not attend his inauguration, which is scheduled for February 18.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton and Slovenian PM Borut Pahor have agreed that an international conference on the Western Balkans, which will likely be held in late March in Slovenia, would be a significant event for the region.

European Parliament (EP) Vice-President Roberta Angelilli on Saturday urged the opposition Socialist Party (SP) to stop its parliamentary boycott and start co-operating with the government.

The International Civilian Office (ICO) will continue to insist on consulting all parties, including Belgrade, regarding implementation of a strategy to extend Prstina’s authority into Serb-dominated northern Kosovo. “The ICO calls on everyone to have a constructive role in this process, which aims at improving living conditions for citizens in …

Kosovo – Local media reported yesterday that Kosovo’s visa liberalisation process with EU countries is conditioned on the repatriation of thousands of Kosovo citizens living illegally across Europe. 

A status conference will be held today in the trial of Radovan Karadžić. Representatives of six countries are expected to give their statements. The chamber of the Hague Tribunal conducting the trial against the former political leader of Bosnia’s Serbs has given Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, France, Holland and Iran a …

Spain, the current holder of the European Union Presidency, believes that progress in the Athens-Skopje talks can be made soon, the Spanish Ambassador to Macedonia Maria Garcia de Lara told media.