Kosovo officials say that they are not worried about the planned reduction of NATO forces in the country. Anders Rasmussen, NATO’s new secretary general, said on Tuesday that he wanted to see Kosovo Force, KFOR, “reduced to just a small reaction force, or out altogether” within his four-year term. 

The remains of Bosnian war hero, Colonel Avdo Palic, have been identified after a 14 year search, local media reported on Wednesday. During the 1992-95 war, Pavic commanded the defenders of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) enclave of Zepa. After Bosnian Serb forces overran nearby Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, massacring …

Serb minorities in neighbouring countries do not enjoy full equality and are not guaranteed their collective rights, Serbian NGO Napredni klub argues in a new report. The report argues that Serbs do not enjoy equality with fellow citizens in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It finds that the status of …

The former head of the Croatian-Slovene commission for borders, Peter Tos, believes joint governance is the key to solving the countries’ grinding border dispute, Javno reports. Tos presented his vision for the resolution of the border issue in an interview with Slovenia’s Dnevnik daily, saying, “the optimal solution would be …

The headquarters of the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security (SANS) was evacuated on Tuesday following a bomb threat, The Sofia Echo reports. Most staff left the SANS headquarters, a perimeter was established around the building, and a bomb disposal team was dispatched to the scene. This, after the Interior …

Kosovo’s government is preparing to issue biometric passports in 2010. Kosovo has issued non-biometric passports since declaring independence in February 2008.The use of biometric passports is a key criterion for visa liberalisation, which would allow Kosovo citizens to travel freely in the EU Schengen zone. Kosovo’s government is working on …

The parliamentary committee investigating Romanian Tourism Minister Elena Udrea decided in its first meeting on Tuesday to question journalists who wrote about her allegedly illegal use of public funds. Chair Ludovic Orban said the committee had yet to decide whether the minister would be invited to attend its next meeting, …

BELGRADE, Serbia Police arrested Stanko Ristic, a close associate of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic, local media reported on Tuesday (August 3rd). Ristic’s lawyer vowed to appeal the arrest. This is not his first. The retired military pilot was jailed for 162 days in 2006 during an investigation …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA) nominated its deputy leader, Sadik Ahmetovic, as security minister Monday (August 3rd). The previous two nominees — Halid Genjac and Senad Sepic — had dropped out of contention. The position became vacant after incumbent Tarik Sadovic was dismissed …

ZAGREB, Croatia Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Monday (August 3rd) that she expects Slovenia to stop blocking Zagreb’s EU accession talks soon. She added that she hopes discussions she had on Friday with Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor will lead to results. The two prime ministers agreed on a framework …