Balkans

The new US administration’s first one hundred day anniversary – coinciding with still unconfirmed news that Vice-President Joe Biden will visit the Balkans in May – has been greeted with mixed feelings and still great expectations among the countries in the region. “Biden’s visit will above all be a good …

Outgoing Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski has warned that while a solution to his country’s long standing spat over its name with Greece may not be popular, a deal is essential and will bring long term positive results. Drawing a parallel with the Ohrid agreement of 2001 which ended the armed …

Albania’s government flatly rejected reports by local media on Wednesday that during a recent meeting between Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis Albania ceded part of its territorial waters to Athens. The two leaders signed an agreement on Monday, which has not yet been made public. …

Kosovo will be included in European visa liberalisation if it meets the necessary conditions, the vice-president of the European Commission said on Tuesday. Jacques Barrot said Kosovo would be treated like other Balkan countries, during a press conference which closed a two-day conference called Building Migration Partnerships. “Kosovo, like the …

Government pressure against the country’s Constitutional Court must stop as it jeopardizes Macedonia’s progress towards the EU, political commentators cited in local media warn. They say that by attacking the latest court’s ruling to uphold a ban on religious teaching in high schools, the government led by the right from …

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says that Holland is showing signs of softening its position on Serbian cooperation with the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In an interview with the Belgrade daily Novosti, Frattini said that the fact that Holland has accepted a proposal by the Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor …

President Georgi Parvanov will issue a decree scheduling parliamentary elections for Bulgaria for July 5, his office said on Tuesday after Purvanov held consultations with all political parties represented in the current parliament. All but one of the parties in parliament agree on the date. The right-wing party in opposition, …

A spat between Vojvodina deputies and Serbia’s Finance Minister threatens to derail parliamentary adoption of a rebalanced budget. Deputies are scheduled to vote on the newly proposed budget on Wednesday – whose adoption is necessary in order for Serbia to curb spending in line with agreements drawn up by the …

European Commission has welcomed Albania’s application for EU membership. “Today, Albania has reached a historical milestone marking the country’s important engagement to common European values and fundamentals”, Director General for Enlargement, Michel Leigh who was present during the ceremony. Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, officially submitted on Tuesday, the country’s …

Kosovo is expected to join the International Monetary Fund and World Bank by June of this year, stated the country’s Minister of Economy and Finance. In an interview for Voice of America, Minister Ahmet Shala, declared that the application process has been completed, and that membership should occur in the …