Balkans

Slovene government has officially turned down the proposal of nationalist leader Zmago Jelincic to advocate the entry of Croatian regions Istria and Dalmatia to the European Union. The Slovene cabinet stated that these were “counties, not countries in question” and that the EU does not allow association of regions based …

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said on Thursday that the Slovenian government adopted amendments to EU’s enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn’s last proposal on solving the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia through arbitration. – As expected, today we formulated and adopted amendments to commissioner Rehn’s proposal and we will send …

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia The European Commission (EC) has declined to comment on the agreement among Slovenian political leaders concerning EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s proposal for resolving the border dispute with Croatia.

PRISTINA, Kosovo Serbs in a northern Mitrovica neighbourhood started rebuilding five houses Wednesday (May 13th), closely monitored by EULEX officials. The situation seems to be calm, in contrast to periods over the past two weeks, when Serbs had protested repairs to homes owned by ethnic Albanians situated in the Serb …

BUCHAREST, Romania By a wide margin Wednesday (May 13th), parliament rejected the first no-confidence vote filed against Prime Minister Emil Boc’s cabinet, which its foes accused of implementing policies that only aggravate the economic crisis.

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands The UN war crimes tribunal rejected a request by former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to drop the charges against him Wednesday (May 13th). Karadzic insists the tribunal is hindering the process and his defence preparations by constantly raiding the homes of his relatives.

Petar Dimitrov, Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy and Energy, has stated that Bulgaria’s economy will not improve until the rest of Europe shows signs of recovery. “More than 60% of Bulgaria’s GDP depends on the European market. And if the crisis in the EU is not over, it would be an …

The recently elected leader of the biggest opposition right-wing party in Bulgaria, whose running in the upcoming European election was allegedly undermined by people close to the ruling parties, conferred with EU ambassadors on Thursday. Martin Dimitrov was accompanied by the leader of the so-called Blue coalition ballot for the …

Bosnia’s new top international envoy, High Representative Valentin Inzko, faces his biggest challenge so far as Bosnian Serb leaders grouped together to demand he stop using his governing powers. The challenge was issued at a session of the Assembly of the Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska, which on Thursday …

After strongly contesting the appointment of the head of the international election monitoring team, the Albanian Central Electoral Commission on Thursday approved her appointment, along with a further 39 long-term observers. The centre-right government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha had earlier objected to Ambassador Audrey Glover’s appointment as head of …