Balkans

Croat President Stipe Mesic has insisted on an appeal to the International Court of Justice in order to settle its border dispute with Slovenia. His comments followed press reports of a European Union proposed arbitration plan. “A court must establish the facts and Croatia will accept any decision reached by …

The son of the uncontested Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) leader, the late Alija Izetbegovic, says he’ll pull out of politics if he fails to become the new president of the ruling Bosnian Party of Democratic Action, SDA. With this statement, the usually cautious Bakir Izetbegovic has apparently gone beyond the point …

Serbian President Boris Tadic’s visit to Kosovo over the weekend should be viewed as a private religious visit by a Serbian citizen, argues the speaker of Kosovo’s Assembly, Jakup Krasniqi. Tadic entered Kosovo on Friday after initially requesting a visit from the European Union office in Belgrade, in order to …

Recognitions of Kosovo’s independence will continue before and after the decision by the World Court on its legality, says the International Crisis Group’s Sabine Freizer. “It will be good that the decision by the International Court of Justice shall not (explicitly) outline that the declaration of independence was illegal,” said …

Saudi Arabia has recognised Kosovo’s independence, reports Kosovo’s public broadcast network, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, on Monday. “In accordance to religious and cultural ties with the population of Kosovo, and as a sign of respect for the Kosovo population’s willpower to win independence, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notifies its …

Greek hints that it approves of the UN’s latest proposal “Republic of Northern Macedonia” as a compromise name for Macedonia has been met with a cold reception by the leadership in Skopje. Speaking at a Washington-held conference dedicated to United States policy towards the Balkans, the Greek Ambassador to the …

More than 2,000 tonnes of rubbish threatens to spill into Bosnia’s northwest town of Banja Luka, after a drop in water levels at a nearby hydropower dam damaged filter nets on the Vrbas river. “The (waste filter) nets are completely destroyed. We have only managed to fix them temporarily but …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has vetoed a disputed amendment to the electoral law that was approved by the Socialist-controlled parliament ahead of general elections in July. One day after the changes were approved by lawmakers, Parvanov warned an amendment raising the threshold for party alliances to enter parliament could create …

Serbia’s President Boris Tadic has announced a visit to Kosovo on Friday, Kosovo’s Public Television RTK reports. The announcement by Serbia’s head of state visit comes on the eve of Orthodox Easter and some 100,000 Kosovo Serbs are to take part in festivities in Kosovo. Until now there has been …

Albania’s leftist opposition boycotted parliament on Thursday accusing the government of stalling the distribution of new identification cards, a key requirement ahead of the June 28 general elections. Socialist Members of Parliament are threatening not to return to the assembly chamber if the government does not resolve the problem where …