Croatia’s accession to the European Union will offer a new hope for the entire western Balkan region, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said after meeting his Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandrokovic on Monday. “The accession treaty will be signed in December, ahead of Christmas,” said Sikorski, whose

European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia, Jelko Kacin, said on Monday that along with EU candidate status, Serbia should also get a date for the beginning of negotiations. He pointed out, however, that in order to make progress in the Euro-integration process, the country needed to resolve the issue of Kosovo.

NATO has repeatedly stated the Karabakh settlement issue to be outside of the Alliance’s scope, Romanian ambassador to Armenia said. “This, however, does not mean NATO is not concerned over the issue,” Crina Prunariu told a news conference in Yerevan.

A delegation headed by Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov has ended a working visit to Uzbekistan. Traikov held meetings with Uzbek Economy Minister Galina Saidova and Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade Minister Ravshan Gulyamov.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the situation in northern Kosovo and KFOR’s role will be one of the key topics of the NATO defence ministers’ meeting this week. The summit will be held in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has called on KFOR and EULEX to protect the Serb community in Kosovo. He said that the fact that the international community kept silent about the killings was unacceptable.

European Commission (EC) report on Serbia has already been written and the Commission is now working out some minor details. The only part that is unfinished is the one that refers to Kosovo.

Moldova’s Acting President, Parliament Speaker Marian Lupu and the Chairman of Ukraine’s Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn have broadened the consolidation and fosterage of the good friendship relations between Moldova and Ukraine in all the fields of common interest.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Tbilisi is a significant event in Georgia-France relations, Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania said at a briefing in Tbilisi on Monday. During the meeting, Sarkozy will meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The sides will discuss bilateral

The next round of the Russian-Georgian negotiations on the Russian Federation’s joining the WTO will be held on October 7-8, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister David Jalagania said at a briefing on Monday. He said that this is likely to be the last round of talks this year.