Balkans

The Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) on Friday (February 12th) rejected an appeal of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to fire his court-appointed lawyer. According to the court, the appointment did not violate the legal rights of the defendant. The ICTY appointed British lawyer Richard Harvey to represent Karadzic …

Prime Minister George Papandreou on Friday (February 12th) accused the bloc of using Greece as a scapegoat to hide the 27-member group’s own failures. Speaking at a government session only a day after the EU leaders agreed to help Greece deal with its financial woes, Papandreou stressed that because of …

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg on Friday (February 12th) urged EU member states to stop the forced repatriation of Kosovo citizens, arguing that this only worsens the economic situation. “Kosovo is not ready to receive a larger scale of people returning from other countries at …

Spanish ambassador to Serbia Inigo de Palacio Espana said that Madrid does not support the plan for the integration of northern Kosovo. Commenting on media speculation that suggests that Spain supports the plan of the International Civil Office (ICO) in Kosovo Chief Pieter Feith for the integration of northern Kosovo …

Kulata checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Greek border is closed for all types of vehicles, the official on duty in Blagoevgrad District Police Directorate said. The checkpoint was again closed for all vehicles at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. There is no information when it will be opened.

The main ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia have expressly rejected the idea of forming an all-Albanian coalition to stand in opposition to the ruling party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

Kosovo’s prime minister, Hashim Thaci, has sent a letter of resignation to Kosovo parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi to inform the assembly that he is resigning from his position as member of parliament, the premier’s office has announced.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe U.S. Adm. James Stavridis has met in Belgrade with Serbian Army (VS) Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Miloje Miletić. Stavridis was today quoted as saying during the talks that NATO’s force in Kosovo, KFOR, would consider all security aspects in Kosovo.

Serbian President Boris Tadić met with NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe Admiral James Stavridis on Thursday. They discussed Serbia’s activities within the Partnership for Peace program and cooperation with KFOR in preserving peace and security in Kosovo.

Kosovo government will officially announce the plan for population census, Kosovo media said. The population census will be conducted in April 2011, Kosovo’s State Statistical Office said. “The census is very important instrument for opening new job positions, building infrastructure and providing proper service, where needed”, the Office said in …