Balkans

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.

The preparations for Croatia’s accession deal with EU will begin during December. The EU board members decided to open workshop groups, responsible for the preparation of Croatia’s accession deal. Croatia accepted the Sweden’s recommendation and began with the preparations with accession deal.

Serbia’s Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said the construction of Belgrade-Bar highway, part of the pan-European Corridor 11 will start next year. Upon visiting works on the road section in the town of Kraljevo on Saturday, Mrkonjic told reporters that 20 million euros have been set aside in the state …

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday at a meeting with his visiting Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski in Istanbul reiterated his support for Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and backed the country in its “name” dispute with Greece. At the meeting Erdogan underlined that he felt Macedonia should be a fully-fledged NATO …

Despite intense speculation, it is still not clear whether Macedonia will secure a start date for its EU accession talks at the regular EU foreign minister meeting scheduled for Monday. Although the European Commission and the European Parliament supported the start of negotiations with Skopje, the chances of Macedonia securing …