Eurasia

Hopes are high that Belgrade and Pristina will on Friday accept an EU-worded compromise formula on the vexed issue of Kosovo custom stamps. Kosovo and Serbia are to get back to the negotiation table on Friday in the sixth round of EU-mediated talks.

The two Balkan countries on Thursday in Sofia signed a Euro-Atlantic cooperation memorandum in which they agreed to put past feuds behind them. 

Serbia supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić stated in Baku on Thursday. Jeremić met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the prospects for economic cooperation between the two countries.

The European Union pressed Serbia on Thursday to strive to normalise relations with Kosovo on the eve of the first talks between the two sides since border clashes this summer. “It is vital that the resumed Belgrade-Pristina dialogue now delivers further results that will improve the lives of people and …

The former head of the EU delegation in Skopje has today taken up his new post as EU Special Representative, EUSR, for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Peter Sorensen, a Dane with more than 15 years’ experience in the Western Balkan region, is one of just eight EUSR’s operating in the

Stefan Füle, European Commissioner for Expansion, has called on Montenegro’s political elite to reach an agreement on election law, a minimum requirement for Montenegro to receive a date for EU accession negotiations. The European Commissioner again called on the government and opposition to reach agreement on adoption of the election …

Greece faces more demands for fiscal tightening as senior government officials acknowledge that the country is likely to overshoot limits set on its budget deficit this year. Greece’s deficit could exceed 8.5% of gross domestic product, compared with an official forecast for 7.6%, as the government struggles to meet revenue …

Serbian President Boris Tadić will hold separate meetings with his Croatian, Montenegrin and Macedonian counterparts in Belgrade on Thursday. The meetings will be held ahead of the 9th UNESCO summit of Southeast European heads of state.

Belgrade negotiating team head Borislav Stefanović has spoken to northern Kosovo Serb representatives about the current situation in the province. They talked about political and security situation and about further steps, especially about the upcoming dialogue in Brussels. “At the same time we talked about possibilities to solve the crisis …

Serbian President Boris Tadić says that Serbia supports the actions of KFOR and EULEX in the north of Kosovo exclusively if they are aimed at combating crime. Another condition would be for the operation to be based on the “status-neutral mandate of the international missions”.