Balkans

Greece to host foreign ministers

ATHENS, Greece The foreign ministers of Russia and the 28 NATO member-states will meet on June 27th on the Greek island of Corfu, NATO Spokesman James Appathurai announced on Wednesday (June 3rd). The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was supposed to take place on May 20th in Brussels. Russia cancelled …

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Crude oil dumped in Ionian Sea

TIRANA, Albania About 60 tonnes of crude oil was dumped into a channel that connects the coast of Vlora with the Ionian Sea, causing significant environmental damage, police said Wednesday (June 3rd). Three people were arrested, including the head of the Arkand Junior company. Investigators say the material was intentionally …

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Bulgarian PM: Energy minister about new gas crisis “There is no reason to panic in next weeks”

SOFIA. There is no reason for panic and concern over the next weeks, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Mutafchiev said in reference to the risks for new gas crisis. There are more than 500 mln m3 of gas in Chiren gas depot. We can supply the country with 4 mln …

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Details of Mladic Diary Revealed

Belgrade’s Blic daily newspaper reveals the personal insights and damning details of the diary of Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic, which has been handed over to the Hague Tribunal. Blic daily was apprised of some of the content of the diary by unnamed sources and published those insights on …

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Bosnian Serbs Snub Western Ultimatum

Top Bosnian Serb political parties have snubbed an ultimatum issued by the country’s top western envoy, High Representative Valentin Inzko, inviting him instead to address the Bosnian Serb Assembly to explain his demands. The move is seen as a further unfortunate but expected escalation of relations between the Bosnian Serb …

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EC to Unveil Balkan Visa Report Today

European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot will unveil a report today in Luxembourg on the on the status of Western Balkan countries’ readiness for EU visa liberalisation at a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers. An official from the current Czech EU presidency told media that though the report …

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Report: Albania ID Process Problematic

USAID, says that the process of distributing new identity documents to voters ahead of June 28 elections is problematic. About 760,000 of Albania’s three million citizens do not have passports, and will be allowed to cast ballots in the upcoming elections only upon obtaining a new identity card. 

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Macedonia Parties Condemn Athens Incident

Macedonia’s top political parties – the ruling centre-right VMRO DPMNE and the opposition Social-Democrats – have condemned Tuesday’s incident in Athens, Greece in which ultra-nationalists stormed the promotion of a Greek-Macedonian dictionary. The parties urged Athens and Brussels to condemn the incident and find the perpetrators. Macedonian government spokesman Sefket …

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MP Zmago Calls Serbia, Bosnia Against Croatia

“It is always smart to unite against a common enemy, and that is Croatia who has border disputes with everyone. With Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro” said the head of the Slovenian National Party, Zmago Jelincic, in an interview for the Frankfurt “Vesti”, the Serbian Diaspora paper. He added …

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Croatia could join EU in 2012

ZAGREB, Croatia Croatia could join the EU no earlier than 2012, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur for Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, told the Vienna-based newspaper Die Presse on Tuesday (June 2nd). He added that this assumes the maritime border row with Slovenia is resolved soon. Slovenia has been blocking the opening and …

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