Croatia

Croatia will hold the first round of presidential elections on December 27, officials said on Friday. If none of the candidates garners more than 50 percent of the vote, the runoff election will be held on January 10, 2010. The incumbent President Stjepan Mesic’s term in office expires in early …

The Croatian authorities claim to be fighting corruption and reforming the judiciary, but they will have to do more before joining the EU, European Voice says.

Montenegro and Croatia will submit documentation to the International Court of Justice regarding their outstanding border dispute. The border in issue is related to on the small peninsula of Prevlaka near Herceg Novi in Montenegro. Croatian ambassador to Montenegro Petar Turčinović said that the documents of the two countries will …

The Hague Tribunal trial chamber has turned down a prosecution motion to impose a defense counsel on Vojislav Šešelj. “The trial chamber, given the new information, has decided to reject the motion to impose a defense counsel… So, you’ll continue representing yourself?” Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti (presiding) asked the Serb Radical …

Egypt and Croatia agreed to bolster cooperation over the weekend, according to a Croatian government communiqué, released to mark the visit of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Zagreb. According to the statement, the sides “agreed to achieve closer cooperation” in the energy and tourism sectors, AFP reports.

Croatia will testify before the International Court of Justice on behalf of Kosovo in December, a move daily Novi List believes will sour relations with Serbia. Croatia’s appearance before ICJ will not be taken lightly by Belgrade, and that Zagreb is steeling itself for a negative reaction. 

Croatia has made good progress in meeting the benchmarks set in the accession negotiations. This surfaced today during the presentation of the EU 2009 enlargement strategy and progress reports for the countries from the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Republic of Srpska (RS) PM Milorad Dodik said that Bosnia-Herzegovina could fall apart if the international community continues pressuring its institutions. Dodik said that the international community is “constantly working on violating the sovereignty of Bosnia and the two entities, as well as their institutions”.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesić says that relations in the region have reached a major impasse since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence. Normalization of relations between Zagreb and Belgrade slowed after Croatia recognized Kosovo independence, and Serbian indignation has begun to spill over into Bosnia-Herzegovina and is seriously undermining the situation in …

Serbian government is set to file a counter-lawsuit to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Croatia alleging genocide during 1991-95 war. Serbia will sue Croatia for war crimes and ethnic cleansing committed against the Serb minority during the 1991-95 war in Croatia. The government and expert team representing Serbia …