Balkans

President Boris Tadić says he has received support from Italy for Greek PM Giorgios Papandreu’s plan to have all Western Balkan countries in EU in 2014. “Serbia considers EU membership to be an irreplaceable strategic goal and we expect that the Greek plan and the plan of its prime minister, …

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu has called on the Kosovo Serbs to vote in the local elections scheduled for Nov. 15. “I once again call on representatives of all communities, in this case the Serb community as well, to be active in this process, which primarily concerns the exercising of their …

Greece’s representative made it clear to the UN envoy that there can be no launch of Macedonia’s EU accession talks without prior resolution of the long-running issue over the name. UN mediator on the name issue Matthew Nimetz had a working dinner with Greece’s negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis on Thursday evening. …

Montenegro’s government will soon establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo. Gjukanovic said that recognizing Kosovo independence urges Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry to establish complete diplomatic relations and ambassador exchange. He said that complete establishment of diplomatic relations between Podgorica and Pristina won’t worsen Montenegro and Serbia diplomatic relations.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov met with UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova. Parvanov greeted Bokova for being elected atop of the organization and remarked that her success is due mainly to her

Bulgaria’s ambassador to Turkey, Branimir Mladenov, has filed his resignation, Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying on November 13 2009. The resignation comes a week after Foreign Minister Roumyana Zheleva and the Cabinet asked President Georgi Purvanov to recall Mladenov and Bulgaria’s ambassador to the US, …

A six-member delegation of the European Parliament (EP), headed by German representative Doris Pack, will stay in Kosovo and Metohija on November 13-16, where the first local elections organized by the provisional Kosovo authorities will be held. Ahead of the elections called for November 15, the delegation will meet with …

With just two days left before the local elections, concern has been raised about mysterious visits to the vote counting centre by workmen claiming to work for EULEX, and questions are being asked about three tenders, crucial to the election process. Mystery workmen, claiming to be employees of EULEX and …

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan are expected to sign an agreement to cooperate on gas supplies Friday, as President Ilham Aliyev pays a working visit to Sofia at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanov. Earlier the week Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, Traicho Traikov, announced that Bulgaria’s state-owned …

Countries from Central Europe and the Balkans should do more in order be better prepared for a otential gas crisis and should find ways to reduce their dependency on Russian supplies, officials and businesspeople said during a Central European Initiative, CEI, meeting held in Bucharest. “The debate over energy security …