Balkans

Kosovo’s Sejdiu asks international community to help dissolve Serb parallel structures

Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu has asked EULEX and the International Civilian Office (ICO) to support authorities in their efforts to dissolve Serb parallel structures in Kosovo. Sejdiu met on Tuesday (January 5th) with EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon and ICO official Fletcher Burton to discuss the recent appointment of judges …

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Croatia’s Kosor insists ruling coalition is stable

Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor reassured her government’s coalition partners that the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is stable and stronger than ever. This follows the expulsion of former prime minister and honorary party president Ivo Sanader, which sparked fears of a split in the ruling party. Sanader was expelled from the …

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Opposition parties in Serbia to seek early elections

The opposition Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will take concrete steps to force early elections, leader Tomislav Nikolic said. He noted that one possibility would be to launch a nationwide petition to collect signatures for the move. Nikolic added that his party will seek the early vote in order to receive …

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OHR in warning over RS independence referendum

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia says a referendum on independence of the Republic of Srpska (RS) would violate the Dayton agreement. The 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina ended with the peace deal, and organized the country into two entities: the Serb RS, and the Muslim-Croat Federation. “The …

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Mesić shortens Serb killer’s sentence

Outgoing Croatian President Stjepan Mesić has decided to shorten prison time of Siniša Rimac by one year. Rimac was sentenced to eight years in prison when Croatia’s Supreme Court ruled that he personally took part in the executions of ethnic Serb civilians in the Pakračka Poljana region of western Slavonia …

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UN Security Council on Kosovo on Jan. 22

The UN Security Council will debate the situation in Kosovo during its January 22 session, the presiding country, China, announced. Stressing that Kosovo remains and important item on the Security Council agenda, China’s Permanent Representative Zhang Yesui said that UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, chief Lamberto Zannier’s report will be …

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Romanian ambassador to Berlin: “Romania ‘under stress’ but will abide by agreements”

The economic crisis has put Romanian political leadership under pressure, but this should not distract the government from complying with its international obligations, Romanian ambassador to Berlin Lazăr Comănescu said. Commenting on the loss of a confidence vote which sanctioned the end of the grand coalition government of Emil Boc, …

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Bobi Tsankov’s murder not to affect Brussels’ opinion about Bulgaria, says Spanish ambassador

I do not think that the murder of a young journalist in downtown Sofia a couple of days ago will affect Brussels’ opinion about Bulgaria, Spanish ambassador to Bulgaria Jorge Fuentes Monzonis-Vilallonga said at a news conference dedicated to the start of the Spanish EU Presidency. The ambassador commented on …

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