Balkans

MACEDONIA Macedonian Premier Nikola Gruevski hopes that Jose Manuel Barroso’s reelection on Wednesday as head of the European Commission, EC, will be positive for his country. On October 14, the EC will issue its annual report on Macedonia’s reform progress. In a congratulatory letter to Barroso, Gruevski said he hoped …

ALBANIA The EU has welcomed a monitoring group’s assessment that the June Albanian elections met most OSCE commitments, while noting the conduct of the polls fell short of optimum standards This, according to a written statement from the EU’s Swedish Presidency, confirming receipt of the OSCE/ODHIR Election Observation Mission’s report …

SERBIA Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has said that unresolved issues remain five years after an agreement of five former Yugoslav states took effect. A two-day meeting of representatives of the five successor states – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia – has started in Belgrade.

SERBIA President Boris Tadic is to lead the Serbian delegation attending the 64th UN General Assembly meeting in New York next week, daily Blic reports. Blic reports that the president will meet US counterpart Barack Obama on September 23 at a reception. One of the Serbian delegation’s priorities is to …

BiH Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara BiH Nikola Špirić uporno kreira nove afere i blokade s ciljem potpunog zaustavljanja rada državnih institucija, tvrdi Sulejman Tihić, predsjednik SDA i zamjenik predsjedvajućeg Doma naroda parlamenta BiH. Kaže da Špirić ovim namjerava pokazati da državne institucije ne mogu raditi pa samim tim i ne trebaju …

KOSOVO Pieter Feith says that three new Kosovo municipalities and one expanded one will be constituted straight after the local elections on November 15. According to the International Civilian Representative’s (ICR) press bureau, Feith said that preparations were complete in the new municipalities of Gračanica, Klokot-Vrbovac, Ranilug, as well as …

KOSOVO Canada will not be taking part in the oral debate on the legality of Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence at the ICJ. Although, as a NATO member, Canada took part in the air strikes on the then Yugoslavia in 1999 and subsequently participated in peace building and civilian projects in …

SERBIA Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Koštunica expects early elections, after which the current opposition would take power. “Great pressure from aggrieved, impoverished and disenchanted citizens will force the authorities to call early parliamentary elections, and the opposition to unite and create a new, nationally responsible government,” Koštunica …

BiH EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the institution Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina should be renamed into an Office of Representative of the European Union. Rehn stated that at the yesterday’s session, the EU foreign ministers discussed the developments in BiH. He pointed out …

GREECE, MACEDONIA Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis is expected to meet UN mediator Matthew Nimetz later this month. The meeting with Nimitz has been scheduled for September 27 in New York. Bakoyannis and Nimitz will discuss the course of negotiations for resolution of the name row between Greece and Macedonia.