Balkans

NKARA, Turkey Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called on Turkish authorities on Monday (July 6th) to re-open the Greek Orthodox Seminary on the island of Heybeliada (Halki in Greek), in a bid to strengthen religious freedoms and minority rights. His comment followed talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey.

TIRANA, Albania The High Court in Tirana on Monday (July 6th) again postponed the trial of former Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu who faces charges of abuse of power. Mediu’s lawyers failed to appear in court, blaming the temporary closure of a tunnel along the Durres-Kukes Highway. Prosecutors say the tunnel …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Officials in Pristina on Monday (July 6th) welcomed the European Commission (EC) decision that visa liberalisation should apply only to citizens with exact addresses within Serbia, and not citizens living on Kosovo’s territory. Therefore, Kosovo residents holding Serbian biometric passports will not benefit from Serbia’s visa liberalisation with …

SKOPJE, Macedonia The UN mediator in the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, Matthew Nimetz, arrived on a two-day visit to Skopje on Monday (July 6th) and met with Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. Joining them was Macedonia’s representative in the name talks, Zoran Jolevski.

PRISTINA, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci announced on Monday (July 6th) that the government has allocated 300,000 euros for reconstruction of houses belonging to all communities in Mitrovica. He described the return of citizens to their property as a legitimate right of everyone and said rebuilding homes has created a …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of BiH’s tripartite presidency, took over the chairmanship of the institution Monday (July 6th) based on the usual rotation. His term will last eight months. His predecessor was the Serb member of the presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic.

Sarajevo -Around 2,500 people began a three day Peace March on Wednesday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre. The 111 kilometre long march will end on Saturday at the Memorial Park Potocari near Srebrenica where some 8,000 people were murdered by Bosnian Serb troops in 1995. The march …

The election of a new mayor of Sofia, to replace Boiko Borissov who is girding up to become Prime Minister of Bulgaria, will take place on October 24 2009, the Municipal Election Commission said on July 8 2009. Borissov’s party, GERB, won a majority in Bulgaria’s parliamentary elections on July …

International observers say that Bulgaria’s July 5 general elections were a cause for some concern amid vote-buying accusations, but stress that the outcome of the poll reflected the will of the people. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, …

Jordan has recognised Kosovo’s independence, making it the 61st country to do so, Albana Beqiri, advisor to the Kosovo Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Jordan is the first country to recognise Kosovo’s independence in the past two months. Sixty-one states have now recognised Kosovo as an independent nation since it’s unilateral …