Serbia

Serb Officials Travel to Secure EU Start Date

As Brussels readies to decide on whether to grant Serbia a start date for EU accession talks, Serbian officials are heading to EU capitals to muster support.Serbian officials are travelling to Brussels and Berlin this week, to persuade their would-be EU partners of their willingness to “normalise” relations with Kosovo …

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Kosovo and Serbia Keep Discussions Quiet

The fifth EU-mediated meeting between Kosovo and Serbia’s prime ministers takes place on Tuesday but little is known about what’s been discussed at the talks so far.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will host the latest round of discussions between Kosovo’s premier Hashim Thaci and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic …

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Serbia Dismisses Kosovo Independence Anniversary

As Kosovo marked the fifth anniversary of its declaration of independence, Belgrade reiterated that it would never recognise Pristina’s statehood claims.Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday that Kosovo’s independence was “an illusion”. Kosovo could exist “for another 100 years without being recognised by the UN”, Dacic told Serbian …

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Serbia Uncovers Plot to Down PM’s Plane

The Serbian security service said it had thwarted mafia-style plans to bring down a government plane with Prime Minister Ivica Dacic on board.The Serbian Police Directorate has informed Ivica Dacic, the Prime and Interior Minister, that “heads of certain criminal gangs were intending to cause a failure on a government …

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Serbia Mediates in EU-Russia Organ Trafficking Row

Russia has refused to provide evidence for the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo’s prosecution of Albanians in Pristina over illegal organ transplants.Moscow is refusing on political grounds to provide evidence about Russian citizens whose kidneys may have been removed and sold illegally at the Medicus clinic in Kosovo, the Serbian …

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Sweden’s IKEA and H&M Come to Serbia

Two Swedish brands, the furniture giant Ikea and the retail-clothing company H&M, have confirmed they are opening stores in Belgrade this year and next.Aleksandar Vucic, the Deputy Prime Minister, announced that the popular Swedish furniture company Ikea will be coming to Serbia in April 2014. “After a long time, the …

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Suspected Criminal Denies Ties to Saric Clan

Rodoljub Radulovic, a member of suspected drug lord Darko Saric’s gang, has sent a letter denying all ties with the clan, describing the affair as a set-up.In a letter allegedly “sent to Belgrade friends”, Radulovic denies ties to the runaway suspected drug lord Darko Saric, and accuses another suspected criminal, …

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Strasbourg Orders Belgrade to Pay War Veterans

The European human rights court dismissed Belgrade’s appeal and confirmed that Serbia must pay overdue wages to veterans of the 1990s conflicts.Belgrade must now spend millions of euro on satisfying the ex-servicemen’s claims. The European rights court initially ruled in favour of the war veterans in July 2012 but Belgrade …

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Serbia PM May be Grilled on Drug Gang Ties

The Prosecutor for Organized Crime may summon Ivica Dacic for questioning as part of a wider probe into official links to a notorious drugs gang.The Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime has launched an investigation aimed at gathering all information on communications between officials and Rodoljub Radulovic, a member of suspected …

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EU Demands Bosnia Ethnic Rights Solution

During a week of meetings, EU officials urged Bosnian politicians to move forward towards ending electoral discrimination by allowing minorities to run for top positions.The EU’s delegation to Bosnia stepped up pressure for the implementation of a key human rights ruling that would allow minorities to run for top governing …

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