Balkans

CROATIA ‘Captain Dragan’, a man accused of war crimes, was released after three years spent in an Australian prison ‘Captain Dragan’, was released after three years spent in an Australian prison. Ivan Simonovic, Croatia’s Minister of Justice, plans to appeal against it. Dragan Vasiljkovic, better known as ‘Captain Dragan’, was …

SERBIA Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić has ordered a probe after the media reported that Montenegro’s candidate for ambassador to Serbia was “unwelcome”. The “urgent investigation” will include “everyone”: from his cabinet chief to the ministry’s human resources clerks, Belgrade daily Večenje Novosti writes. But the ministry officials were not available …

KOSOVO Sweden has criticized the Kosovo government because of the ethnic Albanian leaders’ opposition to a planned protocol between EULEX and Belgrade. Such behavior, a spokeswoman for the Swedish foreign ministry was quoted as saying, “is not in the spirit of Kosovo’s European aspirations”. Cecilia Julin also said that EU …

MACEDONIA The Minister of Transport and Communication Mile Janakievski resigned due to moral reasons. The Minister’s resignation is due to today’s boat accident at Ohrid Lake and according to latest information the number of victims is 22. Janakievski’s resignation was expected. According to government sources,his resignation won’t be accepted, due …

BULGARIA In an interview with The Capital Weekly Rumyana Zheleva, Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that Bulgaria entered the EU with deficits in two fields – justice and home affairs. In due time problems occurred with the appropriation of EU funds. Somehow those problems intertwined leading to its bad …

BULGARIA Only 39% of the ISPA money has been absorbed over the last nine years and the 2010 deadline is just round the corner. This is what the Minister of Transport Alexander Tsvetkov announced. Minister Tsvetkov pointed out the percentage for OP Transport was 1.5%. In his words, Bulgaria needed …

BiH Prijedlog o imenovanju Sadika Ahmetovića za novog ministra sigurnosti neće biti dostavljen parlamentu BiH sve dok SDA i Stranka za BiH ne pristanu na imenovanje direktora Regulatorne agencije za komunikacije (RAK) i Uprave za indirektno oporezivanje (UIO). “Prijedlog za imenovanje ministra neću proslijediti parlamentu dok ne završimo imenovanje direktora …

BULGARIA There is a real risk that Bulgaria will fail to absorb the EU ISPA program funds, according to Transport Minister, Alexander Tsvetkov. Tsvetkov spoke Friday, during the regularly scheduled Parliamentary Control session, in response to question coming from his predecessor, Petar Mutafchiev.

RUSSIA, ROMANIA The Russian and Romanian Foreign Ministries have expressed their concern with the situation in Kosovo. Andrei Nesterenko from the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “considerable conflict potential“ persisted in Kosovo, and that he expected international community representatives to act impartially to prevent “new anti-Serb provocation.“

SERBIA The OSCE has confirmed that there have been many cases of Serbs’ property in Kosovo being sold off without their knowledge, often with forged papers and stamps. “As they’re not there, displaced persons do not find out about these transactions until some time later,” states an OSCE report published …