Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic in Novi Pazar on Friday (July 24th) and said Ankara will invest in construction of a highway through Sandzak. The Turkish diplomat called the Sandzak region “a green light” for further co-operation between the two countries. Jeremic …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj became the first defendant sentenced for contempt of court by The Hague war crimes tribunal. On Friday (July 24th), the tribunal sentenced him to 15 months in prison for revealing the identity of three protected witnesses in one of his books.

BELGRADE Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić says it is possible that an interim trade agreement with the EU could be unblocked by the beginning of 2010. He said Serbia could also submit her EU candidature.The trade deal is part of the SAA – signed in April 2008 and immediately suspended pending …

BELGRADE Egypt support’s Serbia’s bid to host the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) 2011 summit. The summit will be held on the 50th anniversary since the movement was founded.Egyptian Ambassador to Belgrade Aly Galal Bassiouny said on Saturday that his country welcomes Serbia’s bid and wishes the country success in organizing the …

Three Albanian Kosovars have been arrested by Serbian gendarmerie near the border with Serbia on Wednesday for allegedly crossing the border illegally, Kosovo police confirm. Sabri, Nexhip and Riad Dema were farming their land in the municipality of Pudojevo on Wednesday evening when they were arrested, their family told daily …

BELGRADE, Serbia EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn reassured Serbian officials on Wednesday (July 22nd) that the European Commission (EC) is committed to bringing Serbia into the EU, once the country meets its obligations to the UN war crimes tribunal. After a meeting with President Boris Tadic, Rehn added that Serbia …

BELGRADE, Serbia The process to re-register political parties, as spelled out under a new law, begins Thursday (July 23rd). All parties will now have six months to collect enough signatures for registration, at a far higher threshold than before: 10,000 for a mainstream party and 1,000 for parties representing minorities. …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci on Wednesday (July 22nd) sent a letter to EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon about reports that the mission is holding talks with Serbia on judicial matters, including police and customs.

BELGRADE, Serbia The Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) is ready to co-operate with Serbian courts in handling war crimes trials, ICTY President Patrick Robinson said on Friday (July 17th) at the end of a two-day visit to Belgrade. He said the ICTY will seriously consider a proposal envisioning Serbian citizens …

The European Commission recommendation that Macedonian citizens be allowed to enter Schengen countries visa-free from January 1 2010 has caused a drop in demand for Bulgarian passports, Skopje-based Dnevnik said on July 17 2009. Macedonia is being given the concession along with two other Western Balkans states, Serbia and Montenegro.