Balkans

ZAGREB, Croatia The defence ministry announced on Thursday (July 2nd) that Croatia is joining NATO’s forces in Kosovo, deploying a unit of 20 military officers and two helicopters. This marks the first NATO operation in the Balkans for Croatia, which joined the Alliance in April. Last month, NATO authorised the …

SKOPJE, Macedonia EU Special Representative to Macedonia Erwan Fouere reiterated on Thursday (July 2nd) that the government should appoint a successor to resigning Deputy Prime Minister for EU integration Ivica Bocevski as soon as possible. Fouere said he had stressed that during a meeting with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. “We …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Thursday (July 2nd) that the fragile justice system in Kosovo is an obstacle to fighting corruption. He held a news conference to respond to democracy watchdog Freedom House’s latest report, published on Tuesday. It described the judiciary as one of the weakest …

A key intergovernmental agreement on the European Union’s Nabucco gas pipeline will be signed on July 13 in Ankara, Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Petar Dimitrov told journalists in the city of Varna. The information was confirmed by the European Commission. An invitation for the ceremony in Ankara has …

Polls suggest Bulgaria’s right-wing Gerb party is poised to win this weekend’s parliamentary election as voter frustration over the economic crisis and corruption helped widen its lead over the governing Socialists. Latest research suggests support for Gerb has risen by four percentage points to between 32 and 36 percent of …

UNMIK has reminded EULEX that under resolution 1244 it remains in control of its former headquarters in central Prishtina, now the home of EULEX police. Senior officials at the UN mission wrote to EULEX following rumours that the EU rule-of-law mission was planning to hand UNMIK’s former headquarters to Kosovo’s …

Interpol has recalled arrest warrants against a group of Bosnian war-time leaders, who have been accused by Serbia of war crimes, media reported on Friday, quoting Bosnian government officials. The announcement triggered strong criticism among Bosnian Serb officials, some of whom accused Interpol of being “hostile” towards Serbs.

Albania’s former Deputy Transport Minister Nikolin Jaka, was found innocent by an an appeals court in Tirana on Wednesday, after formerly being convicted of illegally influencing a public tender. Jaka was charged in September 2007 with illegally fixing a series of tenders for road projects, and back then was sentenced …

The trial of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Vasil Tupurkovski was unfair and a clear example of a corrupt judiciary, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights said in a case study. This case illustrates the “internal decay” in the judiciary. It is “incapacitated… by sheer fear and by elementary …

The Union for Human Rights, PBDNJ, which represents the ethnic Greek minority in Albania, rejected on Thursday speculation that it will return to the governing coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha after Sunday’s parliamentary elections. “We will not change our position,” said in a press conference, the party boss Vangjel …