Balkans

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, will pay a visit to Belgrade on February 18. Ashton took up the post from Javier Solana in December 2009 and officially stepped in office as First Vice President of the European Commission on February 9, 2010.

Croatia is ready to step up efforts to cooperate with the ICTY in order to be able to conclude EU accesson negotiations by the end of this year. Jadranka Kosor, the Croatian prime minister, said that efforts would be made to achieve better cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for …

SARAJEVO Predstavnički dom bh. parlamenta zadužio je jučer Vijeće ministara BiH da do kraja ovog mjeseca napravi akcioni plan za provedbu presude Evropskog suda za ljudska prava iz Strazbura. Akcioni plan podrazumijeva izmjenu Ustava i Izbornog zakona BiH najkasnije do maja ove godine kako bi opšti izbori u oktobru bili …

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger hopes for soon ratification of Stabilization and Association Agreement between Serbia and EU and start of accession talks by 2014 the latest. In his interview for Belgrade daily “Blic” he said that it’s not real all Western Balkan countries to join EU by 2014.

EU Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg kicks off his visit to Kosovo on Thursday. Commissioner Hammarberg will observe the situation of minorities in Kosovo, among which Serbs and Gorans. UN statistics said that last year a total of 2500 refugees returned to Kosovo. Among them were Roma people, who …

The financial woes of Greece and other eurozone member states are set to dominate Today’s EU summit in Brussels. Late on Wednesday, Europe’s underfire socialist leaders gathered to work out their response to the debt crisis.

The parliament of Bosnia’s Serb dominated entity, Republika Srpska, adopted a controversial law on referendum late on Wednesday. The law has been described by the international community as provocative and potentially unconstitutional.

The European Parliament (EP) approved a resolution by Slovenian lawmaker Zoran Thaler on Wednesday (February 10th) which recommended the EU to set dates for start of membership talks with Macedonia. The draft was supported by 548 lawmakers, 45 voted against it and 35 abstained. The document recommended that Macedonia quickly …

International Civilian Representative Pieter Feith said on Tuesday (February 9th) that the strategy for Serb-dominated northern Kosovo will be forwarded to Belgrade authorities, though not for consultation. Austrian news agency APA reports that Feith expects it will take time for Serbia to accept it the strategy, which has the EU’s …

The European Parliament has given a positive overall verdict to Croatia and Macedonia for their efforts in the EU accession process last year. In resolutions debated and approved in Strasbourg on Wednesday, the European Parliament commended the work undertaken by the two countries, according to a parliament press release issued …