SARAJEVO (AA) – August 23, 2012 – The complex structure that came into being in Bosnia-Herzegovina following the Dayton Peace Treaty at the end of the war made it very difficult for Bosnia-Herzegovina to integrate with the international system and Europe. The intellectuals in the country are concerned that Bosnia-Herzegovina …

If it meets all the EU criteria, Serbia may be able to get a date for membership negotiations by July 2013, a senior EU official tells Balkan Insight.The European Commission’s latest opinion of Serbia’s progress will not be as positive as the one in 2011 – so Serbia is unlikely …

PM Gruevski says ruling VMRO-DPMNE is ready for early polls if its Albanian partners demand them.The Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, on Wednesday said the government coalition was in crisis and that if its ethnic Albanian coalition partner wanted elections, his VMRO-DPMNE party is ready. “We do not want early …

Three officials of Montenegro’s biggest opposition party met Democratic Front leaders to again explore the possibility of a united action against the government.Three officials of the opposition Socialist People’s Party, SNP, Milan Knezevic, Vera Bulatovic, and Vladislav Bojovic, met Miodrag Lekic, chair of the Democratic Front, on Wednesday to discuss …

The Central Electoral Commission published the final list of candidates for the upcoming local elections scheduled for October 7.More than 30,000 individuals have been registered as candidates for local or municipal elections in Bosnia’s two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, the Central Electoral Commission, CIK, …

Serbia’s new defence minister, Aleksandar Vucic, has headed to Russia for his first official visit, confirming the new government’s desire to firm up ties to the Kremlin.Aleksandar Vucic, Defence Minister and head of Serbia’s National Security Council, will meet on Wednesday with Russia’s Vice President in charge of defence, Dmirty …

DUI official says party will walk if law on armed forces leaves out members of former Albanian guerilla fighters from 2001 conflict.Macedonia’s ruling coalition has been shaken after the government’s smaller coalition partner announced that it may leave, if a key piece of legislation is adopted.

The Hague Tribunal, ICTY, has refused the motion of the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to question the former US president Bill Clinton.The ICTY’s Trail Chamber decided that Karadzic could not prove in his motion that Clinton’s testimony would be necessary to the case, or that the information Karadzic …

Albania’s leader has compared Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Hitler, once again showing that the Jewish state has a firm ally in Sali Berisha.Reacting to Ahmadinejad’s recent declaration, branding Israel as a tumour in the Middle East that should be eradicated, Sali Berisha on Sunday described the Iranian’s president’s stance …

Romania’s suspended President Traian Basescu is set to return to office within days after judges ruled an impeachment vote against him was invalid. The decision by the Constitutional Court still needs rubber-stamping by parliament on Friday. The court ruled against the referendum because turnout fell below the required 50 percent.