January, 2013

• 8 January

  Nimetz Starts New Push For Macedonia ‘Name’ Deal

  The UN mediator in the Macedonia-Greece ‘name’ talks, Matthew Nimetz, is visiting Athens and Skopje, bringing fresh proposals for a solution to the dispute.Officials in Athens and Skopje expect the UN mediator in the longstanding dispute over Macedonia’s name – to which Greece objects – to put forward some fresh …

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• 8 January

  Croatian President Slams Ex-Generals’ Double Pensions

  Croatia’s leader called for change after revelations that at least seven former generals are receiving military pensions from both Croatia and BosniaThe daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija revealed on Monday that at least seven former Croatian generals are receiving pensions from Zagreb and Sarajevo because of their roles in both the …

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• 8 January

  Hague Tribunal Hears Mass Grave Testimony

  The trial of former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic resumed for 2013 with testimony about the exhumation of war crimes victims from mass graves.Davor Strinovic, a Croatian medical expert who was part of a commission tasked with finding missing people, said he helped to exhume bodies at the Ovcara farm …

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• 8 January

  Bosnia Launches New War Crimes Indictments

  Bosnia’s regional prosecutors have made a prompt start to the year by pressing ahead with three new war crimes cases.After a review of the remaining war crimes cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina was carried out last year, all of the less complex cases – some 600 of them – were …

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• 8 January

  UK Rightists Oppose Opening Border to Bulgaria, Romania

  UK Independence Party says it will campaign hard against lifting restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians working in Britain in 2014.The leader of Britain’s rightwing UK Independence Party, which has seen a recent surge in support in the polls, says it would be “irresponsible” to open British borders to Bulgarians and …

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• 7 January

  Albania Minister Apologizes for Not Paying Tax

  After Balkan Insight lifted the lid on top Albanian officials who had not paid their car registration taxes, the Minister of Transport, Sokol Olldashi, has apologized.“Minister Olldashi publicly apologizes for not paying the taxes for his vehicle, which his wife uses,” his office said in a statement. “This fact is …

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• 7 January

  Arrests Mar Kosovo Serbs’ Orthodox Christmas

  Ceremonies to mark Orthodox Christmas at churches and monasteries in Kosovo were shadowed by detentions and protests.Kosovo police arrested nine people in the town of Gracanica on Monday for what they said were “security reasons” amid a visit by a Serbian official. The director of the Serbian government’s office for …

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• 7 January

  Albania PM Slams Serbia Monument Removal Threat

  Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Serbia’s threat to remove a memorial to ethnic Albanian fighters in the Presevo Valley breaks international law.“In every free country it’s the local authorities and not the central government that decides which historical or cultural monuments to erect,” Berisha said in a statement on Sunday. …

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• 7 January

  Macedonian Court Clears Alleged Communist Informants

  Two former officials accused of collaborating with Communist-era Yugoslavia’s secret police have had their names cleared.The administrative court in Skopje overturned a preliminary ruling by Macedonia’s Lustration Committee that former ambassador to Poland, Petre Nakjovski, and former state security service official Hetem Ejup Ademi had been secret police collaborators during …

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• 7 January

  Bosnian Serb Jailed for Srebrenica Genocide

  A Sarajevo court upheld the jailing of a Bosnian Serb army officer over the 1995 Srebrenica killings but cut his sentence.The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court endorsed the conviction of Slavko Peric, a former assistant commander, but reduced his prison sentence from 19 to 11 years. It also …

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