Balkans

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn says the European Commission, EC, has recommended that Macedonia start its EU accession negotiations. The move marks the country’s first major step towards integration in the bloc since it was granted the status of an EU candidate state in 2005. However, the report has not …

Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has confirmed Brussels’ stance that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot think seriously about European integration until the Office of the High Representative, OHR, is closed. “No quasi-protectorate can join the EU,” Rehn said. The EU “membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina could only be considered once [the] OHR …

The Appelate Chamber of the Hague Tribunal has postponed the beginning of Radovan Karadzic’s trial by seven days to allow him to study the revised indictment. In the same decision, the Chamber refused Karadzic’s request to have an additional ten months to prepare his defence. The former president of Republika …

Bosnian Serb leaders have rebuffed a package of reforms and incentives proposed by the US and EU to end Bosnia’s political crisis. The package was presented at emergency negotiations held at Butmir military camp near Sarajevo last week. A group of EU and US technical experts has remained in the …

The European Commission, EC, will release an opinion on Montenegro’s application for EU membership in autumn 2010. The progress report on Montenegro shows that the country’s relations with the EU have been positive and that Podgorica has continued to make progress in fulfilling political criteria. However, the country continues to …

European Parliament, EP, rapporteur on visa issues, Tanja Fajon, has reiterated her strong support for the inclusion of western Balkan states in the EU visa-free scheme. Fajon said she believes that all nationals of western Balkan states should be allowed to travel freely to EU member states, as soon as …

Tužilaštvo Federacije BiH potpuno je razvlaštena institucija. Zvanično postoje, imaju milionski budžet, desetine zaposlenih, ali kada se sve sabere, njihov je utjecaj, najblaže rečeno, skroman. Institucije koje su lav od papira čest su slučaj u BiH. Nije to izum ovdašnjih političkih umova, ali je praksa koju su svesrdno prigrlili. Zemlja …

Serbia’s security agencies say that the fact that Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić have still to be arrested is a “relative failure”. The security services (BIA) and military security services (VBA), which are in charge of locating the Hague indictees, say that it is a “relative failure” that Ratko Mladić …

India’s public is appalled at Albania’s request for transfer of remains of humanist Mother Teresa from India to Albania. The Mother Teresa Humanitarian Mission in India claim that Albania did not accept Mother Teresa during communist-era and that now such a request should be rejected. The reactions in India came …

Western patience with Bosnia’s bickering local leaders is running out, the country’s top international envoy, High Representative Valentin Inzko, reportedly said Tuesday. “We will no longer tolerate blockades and a lack of willingness to reform on the part of the Bosnians, Croats and Serbs,” local media outlets quoted Inzko as …