On the eve of the first anniversary of the declaration of independence, Kosovo’s government and parliament are racing to finalize work that has been delayed throughout the year. In less than two weeks, the government finally recruited a chief for the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, form a security council and attempted …

After the deadline for registering for Macedonia’s March 22 presidential election expired last night at midnight, the state election commission confirmed seven candidates had fulfilled the requirements and would be allowed to run. Two professors at the Skopje Law Faculty, Georgi Ivanov and Ljubomir Frckoski, the first nominated by the …

The European Union has asked the Albanian government to reconsider the legal and political ramifications of its recently adopted lustration law, a much-criticised and controverisal item of legislation both domestically and abroad. “The new Law on Lustration gives rise to concern with regards to certain aspects on both procedure and …

A new resolution at the United States Congress calls on President Barack Obama to urgently restore American efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, help it face challenges and avoid further a worsening of the situation, and “maybe a new conflict.” The new resolution focusing on the troubled country was proposed on …

A Macedonian court has sentenced Besim Nesimi and Ramadan Imeri, former special unit policemen, to jail terms of 18 months and 12 months respectively for the brutal 2007 beating up of a cameraman of the local Alsat M TV. In September 2007, the two beat up the cameraman Igor Ljubovcevski …

Macedonians are three times more concerned about the local economy in 2009 amid global crisis than in the same period last year, shows the latest opinion poll done by the International Republican Institute, IRI. There is a tendency of growing pessimism related to the economic developments, IRI Regional Director for …

The government of the Serb-dominated Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska will put the prices of all basic products and key services under its control, its Premier Milorad Dodik said at the weekend. During his visit to northeastern town of Bijeljina over the weekend, Milorad Dodik said that despite the general …

KABUL – Forces with the U.S.-backed coalition killed a regional Taliban commander and eight others in an airstrike in western Afghanistan, the U.S. said Monday. The Sunday night attack destroyed the building housing Ghulam Dastagir and eight other militants in the village of Darya-ye-Morghab, near the Turkmenistan border, the U.S. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai lashed out at mounting U.S. criticism on Sunday, saying he expected “better judgment” from the Obama administration. In the latest show of strain between the allies in a seven-year war against Islamist militants, Karzai told CNN President Barack Obama‘s description of the Kabul …

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Iran is helping Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, said General David Petraeus, who is in charge of U.S. forces in the Central Asian nation and Iraq. “There is a willingness to provide some degree of assistance to make the life of those who are trying to help …