Twenty years after the end of wars in the Balkans the Serbian society still refuses to face up to the past, a round table discussion concludes.The round table named “ What is transitional justice in Serbia?” was held on Tuesday and it was organised by the Helsinki Committee for Human …
Read More »Croatia Vice-Premier Quits, Faces Prison in Hungary
Radimir Cacic resigned on Wednesday after a court in Hungary sentenced him to 22 months in prison for killing two persons in a car accident in January 2010.Cacic crushed a car in Hungary on January 8, 2010, while driving on the Zagreb-Budapest motorway. Two persons died. In September 2011, a …
Read More »Facing the Past Still Taboo in Serbia
Twenty years after the end of wars in the Balkans the Serbian society still refuses to face up to the past, a round table discussion concludes.The round table named “ What is transitional justice in Serbia?” was held on Tuesday and it was organised by the Helsinki Committee for Human …
Read More »Nimetz Calls Fresh Macedonia ‘Name’ Talks
The UN mediator in the Macedonia-Greece ‘name’ dispute, Matthew Nimetz, has called fresh meetings with the two countries’ negotiators next Monday and Tuesday in New York.The mediator’s office said that Macedonian negotiator Zoran Jolevski and Greece’s Adamantios Vassilakis will first have separate meetings with Nimetz to assess the status of …
Read More »Sanader Trial: Ex-PM ‘Betrayed National Interest’
Ivo Sanader ‘betrayed vital national interests’, prosecutors said in their closing words on Wednesday in the bribery trial concerning Hypo bank and the Hungarian oil company MOL.”Sanader used his official posts, from becoming deputy Foreign Minister in 1994 to Prime Minister in 2008, for his own private interests,” Vanja Marusic …
Read More »Bulgaria PM Urges Controversial Judge to Withdraw
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has again urged Veneta Markovska, who was recently elected a Constitutional Court judge, to withdraw.Markovska’s nomination to the Constitutional Court, following her election as one of two parliamentary candidates to serve on the Court, has caused controversy. Markovska, a deputy chairperson of the Supreme Administrative Court, …
Read More »IMF Presses Romania to Complete Reforms
Fund says Bucharest must implement promised reforms to conclude a new agreement; mission to return after December elections.A joint delegation of the IMF and the European Commission concluded its visit to Bucharest on Wednesday, following talks with the authorities on macro-economic prospects and on progress towards achieving the fiscal targets …
Read More »Greece’s Very Real Fiscal Cliff
The tired country’s parliament continues to enact austerity measures to ensure Eurozone financial help keeps flowing, to the anger of many affected parties.Last Wednesday night, I sat in the press stalls inside the main hall of Greece’s parliament watching a critical bill being debated. While Americans were still distracted by …
Read More »Calls Grow in Germany For Return of Balkan Visas
German municipal association demands restoration of visas for Serbia and Macedonia, complaining that towns and cities cannot cope with the influx of new asylum seekers.The head of Germany’s Association of Towns and Municipalities said the number of Serbian and Macedonian asylum seekers rose by 140 per cent in 2012 compared …
Read More »Bosnian Separatism Worrying, UN Report Says
High Representative Valentin Inzko has told the Security Council that Bosnia is caught up in political power struggles, and that growing secessionist rhetoric should cause concern.Inzko told the Security Council on November 13 that he was concerned by the secessionist rhetoric of the leadership of Republika Srpska, the Serb-led entity …
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