Eurasia

NATO is concerned about the possibility of Slovenia holding a referendum on Croatia’s membership in the alliance, worried both about delays and a vote denying their neighbour NATO accession. Two Slovenian nationalist groups on Monday initiated a referendum on Zagreb’s accession to NATO, saying Croatia should not join the alliance …

Kosovo is not an independent state despite seceding from Serbia a year ago, Serbia’s President Boris Tadic told AFP in an interview For Serbia, the Feb. 17 anniversary is “a day when the authorities in Pristina declared the independence of Kosovo in an illegal way, based on international law,” Tadic …

ll the artifacts used in a Macedonian tourism promotion campaign were dug up in Macedonia, the makers of the video said after local media reported that Athens will launch a protest over Skopje’s use of ancient Greek artifacts. Local media previously reported that Athens plans to send protest letters to …

Moderate Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic said the Serbian minority in Kosovo would ignore the February 17 celebrations of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, as it did not recognise the secession from Serbia. “No doubt Albanians will celebrate Feb. 17, but, regarding the Serbian community, we will ignore it just like …

Kosovo’s first year of independence has been successful, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci said on the eve of the first anniversary of the secession from Serbia, adding that Kosovo will in the end be a full member of the European Union and NATO. Kosovo declared independende on February 17, 2008 …

A group of hardline Serbian parlamentarians will visit northern Kosovo on Tuesday, the first anniversary of Kosovo’s secession from Serbia. Serbia has said Kosovo’s Feb 17, 2008 secession is ‘illegal’ and it still considers Kosovo its southern province. Hardline Kosovo Serb leader Marko Jaksic told local radio Contact Plus that …

Kosovo has good reason to be proud of its achievements in its first year of independence, President Fatmir Sejdiu said ahead of the Feb 17 anniversary of Kosovo’s secession from Serbia, noting that rather than destabilise the Balkans, the declaration of independence had opened doors for progress. “During its first …

Albania’s constitutional court suspended on Monday a controversial “clean hands” lustration law targeting former officials of the communist regime, which critics say could be used for political revenge attacks by the government. With seven votes in favor and two against, the judicial panel voted to defer the effects of the …

Serbia will never give up Kosovo, Serbia’s Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic said on Monday, noting that the secession of what Serbia still sees as its southern province “has complicated relations in the region, in Europe, even in the world”. Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008 and has been …

Two planes had to make an emergency landing in Macedonia’s Skopje airport on Friday the 13th, leading aiport authorities to publicly reassure passengers over the ominous date. An airport spokesperson told Dnevnik daily these problems do occur from time to time and had nothing to do with the date that …