Serbia

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule arrives Wednesday in Belgrade. Fule will meet with Serbian top officials to discuss the EU integration of the country. It is expected Mr. Fule to confirm EU determination for Serbian accession to the EU after the state meet the requirements.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged the EU on Monday (March 15th) to end visa requirements for Turkish citizens. The request came during a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, who was visiting Ankara for the first time since being elected to the post. The EU lifted visa requirements …

It would be important for the success of the planned conference in Slovenia if the Serbian president attended, says a Slovenian embassy in Belgrade official. This would be significant, Jadranka Šturm-Kocjan stated, for cooperation in the region, mutual relations and dialogues between the Western Balkans countries.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele is set to begin his first Western Balkans tour on Wednesday, with scheduled stops in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo.

Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Šimonović said that there is no possibility that Serbia can pay reparations for damages incurred by Croatia during the war. He said that Croatia can only expect “symbolic reparations based on the genocide committed”, referring to the genocide charges Croatia filed against then Yugoslavia in 1999.

The war crimes chamber of the High Court in Belgrade has remanded in custody for 30 days 9 persons suspected of crimes committed in area of Pec, Kosovo in 1999. The suspects were arrested on Friday, March 12. According to Bruno Vekaric from the prosecution, two others are at large.

Serbia has made surprising progress in the last several months in its European integrations, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said. He said that the visa liberalization for Serbian citizens offers a new perspective for change and cooperation. 

Serbian President Boris Tadić said on Sunday that Serbia has nothing against the extradition of Ejup Ganić to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Serbian President Boris Tadić met with his German counterpart Horst Koehler to discuss Serbia’s European integration process. Tadić told Koehler that long-term peace, stability, and economic development in the Western Balkans is only possible through the European integration of the region.

Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska and Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic on Friday (March 12th) vowed to step up co-operation against a wave of asylum seekers from their countries trying to move to EU member countries. “We will investigate together