At a parliament ceremony, Tuesday, Georgi Ivanov, took an oath to became Macedonia’s fourth democratically elected head of state in the country’s 18-year history. The ceremony kicked-off at midday with the national anthem, followed by the taking of the oath and the President’s inaugural speech. In that speech, Ivanov stated …
Read More »Albanians Call for Macedonian Presidential Boycott
The Students’ Parliament of the State University in Tetovo, DUT, called for an all out Albanian boycott of Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony of Macedonia’s new President Georgi Ivanov. The students appealed to the heads of the ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia, and Albanian President Bamir Topi to boycott the swear-in ceremony …
Read More »Bosnia Set to Miss EU’s Visa-Free Train
Bosnia and Herzegovina legs behind all other Balkan countries in implementing reforms that would enable establishment of visa-free regime with EU countries, officials and media said on Tuesday. “Macedonia and Serbia has gone much further in the implementation of conditions for a visa-free regime. Bosnia and Herzegovina is lagging behind, …
Read More »Romania Opposition Asks Govt to Resign
Romanian main opposition parties on Monday submitted a motion against the ruling coalition demanding the resignation of the government due of its “poor economic results”. The Liberal Party (PNL) and Party of ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) say that the government has failed to take adequate measures in order shield …
Read More »Up to 20 Injured in Kosovo Serb Clashes
Up to twenty people were injured Sunday in clashes between Kosovo’s police and Serbs, sparked by electricity cuts. The protests began at the eastern village of Gjilan/Gnjilane, when police say protesters gathered and blocked the Gjilane/Gnjilane-Bujanovac road. Kosovo Police said that ten policemen were injured as around 300 Serbs threw …
Read More »EU Visa Scrapping for Balkans Faces Delay
The scrapping of EU visas for Macedonia, Serbia and most likely Montenegro will probably be postponed for several months, media in Skopje claimed on Monday. The “visa wall” can only fall in mid-2010, and not at the beginning of the year as previously hoped, local Utrinski Vesnik daily reports. According …
Read More »Georgia`s Saakashvili Meets Opposition On Monday
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili agreed to meet opposition leaders on Monday after a month of street protests in the former Soviet republic. Clashes on Wednesday between police and protesters, a day after a brief, bloodless mutiny at a tank base outside Tbilisi, have fuelled fears of wider anti-government unrest in …
Read More »De Hoop Scheffer says NATO ready to welcome Western Balkan countries
SKOPJE, Macedonia NATO will keep its doors open to countries in the Western Balkans, outgoing Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer pledged on Friday (May 8th) during a visit to Skopje.
Read More »IMF confirms it has offered membership to Kosovo
WASHINGTON, United States The IMF announced on Friday (May 8th) it has approved Kosovo’s application for membership, confirming reports by Kosovo officials earlier in the week. The IMF’s executive board has certified an earlier vote by the Board of Governors to offer membership to Kosovo, the IMF said in a …
Read More »Talat envisions referendum on Cyprus issue by end of 2009 or early 2010
NICOSIA, Cyprus Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Saturday (May 9th) his side plans to call a referendum on a reunification proposal by the end of this year or early in 2010. He said his aim is to complete the first phase of reunification talks with Cypriot President …
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