Balkans

Macedonian top officials are in constant coordination regarding name dispute with Greece and Macedonia’s stance has been announced to US Ambassador and Macedonian name negotiator Zoran Jolevski. Macedonian President Gjorgje Ivanov made the remarks following the question about whether Macedonian authorities share the same stance on name issue.

The parliament of Bosnia’s Serb dominated entity, Republika Srpska, will hold a special session on Tuesday to discuss a draft law on referendum in defiance of repeated calls by the international community against the move. The draft law which is to be discussed was submitted to the parliament in January …

Matthew Nimetz has accepted the invitation send by Macedonian officials to visit Skopje on February 23rd, Macedonian Foreign Ministry said. UN special envoy in the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece will visit Skopje following the invitation send by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is not known whether he …

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and his Romanian counterpart Emil Boc are scheduled to meet on February 12 2010 to reassess the future development of the Dunav Most 2 (Danube Bridge 2) construction project, Investor.bg said on February 9 2010. Danube Bridge 2, which is set to link the Bulgarian …

I believe that we have managed to establish mutual fellowship with the new elected Prime Minister and colleagues of the Cabinet. Therefore my major efforts are for further strengthening and stabilization of the traditionally strong relations of our countries in all fields of mutual interest, Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Yuriy …

European Parliament (EP) member Doris Pack says Kosovo needs 12 to 18 months to meet the EU-set criteria before it can benefit from visa liberalisation. “It depends on politics. If Kosovo authorities work faster, the processes can move faster too,” Pack was quoted as saying by public broadcaster RTK on …

European Parliament (EP) rapporteur on visa liberalisation for the Western Balkans Tanja Fajon says BiH has made significant progress in implementing conditions in its EU visa liberalisation road map. In an interview with the Sarajevo-based daily Dnevni Avaz on Sunday (February 7th), Fajon said she expects the country to get …

Any further downsizing of NATO’s troops in Kosovo will be decided in co-operation with authorities in Pristina, Albanian Defence Minister Arben Imami said on Sunday (February 7th). “Kosovo has developed into a stable country … showing political maturity,” Imami said in Tirana, after attending a meeting of NATO defence ministers …

Kosovo’s PM Hashim Thaci told political directors of the foreign ministries of the 25 member states of the International Steering Group, ISG, that the strategy for northern Kosovo is above all crucial for improving the lives of the people who reside there.

The key project that can contribute to further cooperation between Albania and Macedonia is the continued construction of the east-west European road and rail network, the countries’ foreign ministers concluded Monday at a meeting in Tirana.