Balkans

The Skopje-Athens name row could be solved via international arbitrage, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic told journalists after meeting his Macedonian counterpart Georgi Ivanov on Thursday in Skopje. Croatia is nearing the end of its EU accession talks. Zagreb’s talks were stalled for almost a year when neighboring Slovenia blocked Croatia’s …

Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič started his official two-day visit to Serbia on Thursday. Gašparovič has met with President Boris Tadić in the Palace of Serbia, after which the two presidents held a joint press conference. The Slovak president said that his country supports Serbia on EU integrations, and on Belgrade’s …

RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik and other political leaders in Bosnia met yesterday with U.S. deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. Dodik, who heads the government of the Serb entity, said after the meeting that solutions would not be imposed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and that Bosnian leaders would have to reach …

Greece’s new socialist government has announced they would continue to block Macedonia’s admission negotiations with the EU. The reason for this is the long-standing dispute over the name of Greece’s northern neighbor.

Macedonia’s Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska will pay official visit to Kosovo on Thursday. Jankuloska is scheduled to meet her Kosovo counterpart Interior Minister Zenun Pajaziti. The two ministers are expected to sign a memorandum on police cooperation between the two countries.

Macedonia will not introduce visa requirements on Albania’s citizens following the EU’s decision to exempt Macedonian citizens from visa obligations when travelling to EU countries.

Kosovo’s declaration of independence was made too early, and countries that don’t recognize Kosovo are actually safeguarding their own national interests, Greek President Carolos Papoulias said.

Radovan Karadzic will challenge the decision by war crimes judges to appoint him a defense lawyer in a trial in which the former Bosnian Serb leader is representing himself, his legal adviser said on Thursday. Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia last month appointed London-based barrister …

The name dispute between Macedonia and Greece could be solved through international arbitration and to be separated from the EU accession talks until Macedonia reaches its European Atlantic aims. This is what Croatian President Stepan Mesic said during his visit to Skopje.

Croatia started a procedure of visa lifting for Serbia, Serbian Dnevnik newspaper writes on Thursday. The information was confirmed by government’s spokesperson Zlatko Mehun. At the decision of the Croatian government, citizens of Serbia will not need to get visas for crossing the territory of Croatia, as well as for …