Balkans

After an 11-month break, the trial before the Hague Tribunal of Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Šešelj continues on Tuesday. Šešelj is accused of war crimes against non-Serbs in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The prosecution is expected to bring out its last witness in the case, and the trial …

EU Foreign Policy High Representative Catherine Ashton says the future of Western Balkans will be one of the priorities of her activities. Ashton also and pointed out that she wants for the whole region to progress towards the Union in the future. In a speech before MPs of the Foreign …

Serbia’s Parliament will debate drafts of two resolutions for condemning war crimes committed during the wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. One will condemn the crimes committed against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) in Srebrenica, and the other will condemn all other war crimes.

Team of IMF’s experts will arrive on Tuesday in Greece, following the visits by European Commission and the European central bank, Greek media said. The experts will discuss with Greek officials and try to solve the issues regarding retirement, taxes and financial handling. IMF points out that the visit is …

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission, CEC, failed on Monday to approve the final results of the hotly contested mayoral elections in Gjilan. The results of the second-round mayoral vote were recounted last week after fears that widespread fraud had taken place in the municipality during the 13 December election.

The EU’s newly appointed foreign minister Catherine Ashton expressed her support behind international efforts to stabilise Bosnia, noting that there is no other choice but for the differing communities to live together. At her parliamentary hearing in front of MEPs Ashton noted that: “They can have as many referendums as …

A group of 200 academics, writers and journalists in Serbia has asked the country’s parliament to call a referendum on whether Serbia should join NATO. Speaking at a press conference, Serbian Academy member Matija Beckovic called for the referendum stressing that Serbia is now a neutral country which suffered “criminal …

Social Democratic Party candidate Ivo Josipović had a convincing win in the second round of presidential elections in Croatia. According to the first official results from the state election commission, Josipović won 60.29 percent of the vote, and independent candidate Milan Bandić received 39.71 percent.

Serbian Parliamentary Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović says that parliament has not received any official initiative for adopting a Srebrenica resolution. “I would personally support every resolution that condemns war crimes, including those in Srebrenica. In my opinion it is not enough for only Srebrenica to be included in it,” Đukić-Dejanović said.

Skopje will continue seeking a solution to its name dispute that does not violate the state and the national interests of Macedonia’s nationals, Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski said. In cooperation with the UN name mediator Matthew Nimetz and through direct contacts in the upcoming period, Macedonia will try to reach …