Eurasia

Macedonian President George Ivanov appealed to the European Union to set a date for the start of negotiations with Skopje on joining the EU, almost four years after it was made a candidate, his office said Tuesday. “The start of the negotiations will be a clear positive signal for Macedonia, …

Media report that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, Serge Brammertz, is satisfied with the level of Serbia’s cooperation with the Tribunal even though he has not stated that the country is fully cooperating. Brammertz wrote in his regular report to the UN …

The 2009 corruption perception index released by the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International shows that most countries in the Balkans have not improved their position in the global anti-corruption index. With the exception of Montengro, there appears to have been little impact on the fight against corruption despite actions taken to …

Bakim Kelani, spokeperson for the Kosovo Police Service, KPS, has announced that Serbian and Montenegrin nationals do not need a passport to enter Kosovo. 

Macedonia and Greece must use the window of opportunity before the December EU council to strike a deal on their name spat that continues to block Skopje’s Euro-Atlantic integration, Swedish Foreign Minister said on Tuesday. “This has to be dealt with bilaterally” Carl Bildt, whose country is currently running the …

Russia will host a large-scale military drill next year. “Exercises will be held in the east of our country in 2010,” the Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukovas said. The drills, dubbed “Vostok 2010”, would be held from late June to early July, with involvement of servicemen from Siberia and Far East …

The opposition New Kosovo Alliance, AKR, is accusing the Alliance for Future of Kosovo, AAK, for manipulation in polling stations in the Gjakova municipality during Kosovo’s local election.

Georgian State Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili transferred the state strategy on national minorities today to Azerbaijani State Committee for Religious Organizations Chairman Hidayat Orujov.

Macedonia’s top officials have decided that the country should stay actively involved in the negotiations about its name. The talks meant to bring closer the positions of Skopje and Athens on this issue are being conducted under the UN patronage.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic protested on Monday at a conference in Brussels because the Kosovo Albanian delegation did not have UNMIK signboards on its table. Dacic considered the missing UNMIK signboards from the tables as an attempt to prejudge the status of Kosovo.