Voting has opened in Macedonia’s presidential and mayor elections in a poll seen as a test of the country’s democratic record. Polls opened at 0700 CET (0600 GMT) and will close at 1900 CET (1800 GMT). The vote is closely monitored by the European Union after last year’s June general …

Displaced people and prisoners ahead of Sunday’s presidential and mayoral elections in Macedonia. Ballot stations in prisons and community centres opened at 0700 CET (0600 GMT) and will close at 1900 CET (1800) on Saturday, one day before the nationwide poll on Sunday.

A new pre-trial status conference in the case of Radovan Karadzic is due to take place on April 2, 2009. The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, has announced that another pre-trial status conference in the case of Radovan Karadzic will take place on …

In the midst of talks with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Serbia’s central bank governor Radovan Jelasic shed some light behind some the measures the government is taking to tackle the effects of the global economic slowdown. Speaking at a conference titled Global crisis: Can We take a break from …

Most of the remaining 120,000 Serbs refuse to cooperate with Albanian-run institutions. Many Kosovo Albanians view the U.N. presence as an obstacle to independence a year after they seceded from Serbia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report released on Thursday. “There is a perception among many Kosovo …

Renewed activity by Russia`s strategic bombers over the Atlantic and regular tests of strategic missiles have rung alarm bells in the West. Russian strategic bombers on Thursday carried out their first training exercise of the year, firing cruise missiles at a training ground in northern Russia, Interfax news agency reported. …

BERLIN, Germany — Police in Stuttgart on Thursday (March 19th) arrested two men who allegedly provided confidential governmental information to members of criminal groups and foreign intelligence services in Kosovo and Macedonia.

ZAGREB, Croatia — The national committee in charge of EU talks approved on Thursday (March 19th) Croatia’s negotiating position on the judiciary and fundamental rights chapter of its EU acquis, committee chairwoman Vesna Pusic announced. She described this chapter as one of the most important in the accession talks.

ATHENS, Greece — A strong explosion shook the offices of a real estate state agency in Athens late on Thursday (March 19th). Preliminary investigations suggest that a gas leak may have caused the blast in the Ambelokipi district.

ZAGREB, Croatia — Prosecutors are investigating possible war crimes committed in Dubrovnik in 1991-1992 by 28 pilots with the former Yugoslav National Army (JNA), not just the three pilots who appeared in a Podgorica court in relation to the case, district prosecutors in Dubrovnik announced on Thursday (March 19th). The …