Balkans

The leader of the Democratic Party (PDM) Marian Lupu, who is the Alliance for European Integration’s candidate for the presidency, had a meeting with the leader of the Communists Party (PCRM) Vladimir Voronin on Wednesday. The Communist MP Mark Tkachuk said that Lupu and Voronin could not come to terms …

European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Macedonia and Slovenian MEP, Zoran Taler, is due to pay a visit to Macedonia on Thursday. According to the agenda, Taler will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, Vasko Naumovski. Shortly after the European Commission published the report on Macedonia’s progress, …

The Bulgarian government has approved a package of measures for energy cooperation with Montenegro. The accord encompasses segments like oil, natural gas, electricity, renewable energy resources and energy efficiency. The paper will be signed during the upcoming visit of Montenegro’s President Filip Vujanović to Bulgaria.

The Croatian authorities claim to be fighting corruption and reforming the judiciary, but they will have to do more before joining the EU, European Voice says.

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic will again boycott his genocide trial when it resumes at a UN tribunal in The Hague next week, one of his legal advisers said Wednesday. “He will not attend Monday,” Marco Sladojevic said after a meeting with the 64-year-old Karadzic. Karadzic, who is defending …

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana opposes the holding of referendum on any putative agreement to end the Skopje-Athens name row. “I don’t think [in] parliamentary democracies the referendum is the best solution,” Solana said. “Look at our experience,” he added, referring to the complications the Irish referenda caused for …

Odgovornost za napredak BiH je na domaćim političkim liderima koji moraju imati mnogo ozbiljniji politički angažman, upozorio je Karl Bilt, ministar vanjskih poslova Švedske i predsjedavajući Vijeća EU, po okončanju dvodnevnog zasjedanja ovog vijeća. “Naša glavna poruka bosanskohercegovačkim liderima je – sjedite, razgovarajte, dogovorite se. Imamo veliku podršku za razgovore …

The system for administering the “borders between Kosovo and Serbia” must be implemented “in order to enable freedom of movement,” Sweden’s ambassador says. “The EC report on Serbia’s progress towards the ‘white Schengen’ stated that for freedom of movement, there must be a system of administering the border between Kosovo …

The retrial of the former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is scheduled to begin Wednesday at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). After the original trial that ended in Aril 2008, Haradinaj was found not guilty on all 37 counts

EU foreign ministers urged today the political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina to “take greater responsibility” for further development of the country. They reiterated that an agreement is needed in order to guarantee the future of BiH in the European Union and NATO. The foreign ministers of the 27 member-states …