After being shunned for two years in a row, Albania expects to obtain EU candidate status on Wednesday, though such a recommendation will likely come with a host of conditions.The European Commission is expected this week to recommend granting EU candidate status to Albania, “considering the improvement in the political …
Read More »Disputes Overshadow Delayed Danube Bridge Opening
Bulgaria and Romania are still exchanging accusations ahead of the planned opening of a new Danube bridge.Romanian and Bulgarian officials are still trading complaints ahead of the expected opening of a long-awaited bridge connecting the two countries.
Read More »Greek Protesters Welcome Merkel In Nazi Uniforms As The IMF Downgrades The World
The European sovereign debt crisis came back with full force on Tuesday, riots and Nazi uniforms included. German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens, sparking substantial protests and violent clashes with the police. Hours before, the International Monetary Fund had released a report in which …
Read More »Mrkonjic May Face Probe in Serbia Corruption Case
Infrastructure Minister may face a corruption probe concerning a case involving the issue of illegal permits.Milutin Mrkonjic, Slobodan Milosevic’s favourite builder in the 1990s and Serbia’s Infrastructure Minister, will be the next target in the government’s fight against corruption, Balkan Insight has learned from two independent sources.
Read More »War Crimes Defendant New Mayor of Krupa na Uni
Gojko Klickovic, a war crimes defendant, has been elected as the new mayor of the town of Krupa na Uni, in Republika Srpska.According to incomplete data from the Bosnian Central Election Commission, Klickovic, a candidate for the Serbian Democratic Party, won over 60 per cent of the votes in the …
Read More »Serbia Revokes Former Minister’s Immunity
As the government launches a corruption probe against former minister Oliver Dulic, parliament has lifted his immunity from prosecution.Oliver Dulic, former Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, has received a call for a hearing on Wednesday from the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. This comes after parliament on Monday lifted …
Read More »Experts Criticise Croatia Over Property Rights
Seventeen years after the Dayton accords which stopped the Bosnian war, the signatory countries are yet to fully implement the agreement.The US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement, which was signed in 1995, includes sections on citizenship and property issues which the three signatories – Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, have still …
Read More »Albania’s EU Reform Efforts in 2012 Praised
A report released on Monday by the Open Society Foundation in Tirana says Albania strengthened the planning and implementation of EU reform priorities in 2012.The report said that by October 2012, 46 per cent of Albania’s EU reform commitments had been totally implemented and 32 per cent had been partially …
Read More »Kosovo Serb Indicted for War Crimes
A Kosovo court has confirmed an indictment against Aleksandar Bulatovic for suspected war crimes committed in April 1999 in Fushe Kosovo, known as Kosovo Polje in Serbian.A European judge from the EU rule of law mission to Kosovo, EULEX, established that there are grounds to rise the indictment against the …
Read More »Montenegro’s Civil Society Protests Over Media Attacks
Montenegro’s civil society has accused the country’s PM of encouraging attacks on journalists after two journalists were abused at the Democratic Party of Socialists’ convention on Thursday.Goran Malidzan, a journalist of the Podgorica-based daily newspapers Vijesti, and Bozidar Jelovac, his colleague from the daily newspaper Dan, claim they were verbally …
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