Balkans

The construction of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline in Bulgaria will not start within the next 18 months, until Bulgaria’s Environment Ministry has prepared an environmental impact assessment on the project. The pipeline is planned to transport Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the …

The time has come for Belgrade to apply for EU membership, and the application should be submitted “before Christmas”, Italy’s FM Franco Frattini says. Frattini told the press that Serbia was on a path towards EU accession, adding that he hoped it would happen within a reasonable amount of time. …

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband showed support for the progress Belgrade has made in cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, said reports. “I stressed that Britain supports Serbia’s progress towards EU membership and the completion of the necessary conditions. Great Britain and Serbia share a vision of EU member for the …

Serbian President Boris Tadić said that a decision will be made soon on when Serbia will apply for candidate status for becoming an EU member. He said that the unfreezing of the Interim Trade Agreement makes Serbia look like a safe destination to investors and opens new room for Serbia …

Ethnic Albanian politician Azem Vlasi has confirmed that he will be the first Kosovo ambassador to Montenegro. However, Vlasi, who was a Kosovo communist official in the former Yugoslavia, could not say when he would officially be proposed for the post, saying that there will be no statements until he …

Both politicians and Serbia’s business community have welcomed EU ministers’ decision to unblock Serbia’s interim trade agreement, noting the agreement paves the way for future investment in the country. President Boris Tadic noted that the agreement proves EU countries consider Serbia a serious partner: ”Both the visa liberalisation and now …

EU foreign ministers postponed a decision for the start of accession talks with Macedonia, after Greece opposed an early start to the talks. EU foreign ministers discussed the issue of Macedonia until late Monday in an attempt to find a breakthrough with Greece, postponing a press conference that had been …

Albania’s Democratic Party and its government allies are expected to hold a major rally in Tirana on Tuesday, commemorating students’ protest in 1991 that are considered to have been the beginning of the end of the former Stalinist regime.   However, for most local observers the rally is seen as …

The public hearing in the Kosovo case is set to continue today in The Hague for the sixth day. After yesterday’s arguments presented by China – the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to participate in the proceedings – today the judges will hear the arguments of Russia …

Nenad Malić was sentenced on Monday in Belgrade to 13 years in prison for the murder of two Muslim civilians in Bosnia. The charged against his also included the attempted murder of another Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) in Stari Majdan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 1992.