Balkan News

The leaders of Macedonia’s two governing parties met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the burning name dispute with Greece. Media speculate the meeting between Prime Minister and leader of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski and Ali Ahmeti, the head of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the junior partner in …

The European Commission’s progress report on Kosovo, released last month, shows a ‘deterioration’ in the country’s performance, according to a high ranking EC official in the country. Khaldoun Sinno, head of political, economic and European integration at the European Commission Liaison Office in Kosovo, made the comments at an event …

The Croatian and Slovenian governments have confirmed that their leaders will sign an arbitration agreement in Stockholm on Wednesday. Jadranka Kosor and her Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor both made seperate statements confirming they will sign on Tuesday.

Newly appointed Serbian Ambassador to Ukraine Dušan Lazić presented his credentials to Ukranian President Viktor Yushchenko on Tuesday. The Serbian Embassy in Kiev said in a statement that Yushchenko and Lazić concluded that relations and cooperation between Serbia and Ukraine are developing successfully.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that now is not the right time for Serbia to submit its EU membership application. He also said that there are no signs Interim Trade Agreement between Serbia and EU to be unfrozen.

Serbian President Boris Tadic is sure that the decision of the International Court of Justice about the legitimacy of Kosovo’s independence will be in Serbia’s favor. “I am convinced that the judgment of the International Court in Hague will be in Serbia’s favor as this is a case of violation …

The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will at last appear at his trial today, three day after proceedings opened against him on 11 war crimes charges. He has stayed in his cell since the prosecution began to read its indictment last week, but has now issued a letter saying …

The chair of Serbia’s council for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, Rasim Ljajic, believes that the Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will give Serbia an upbeat assessment when he visits the country on Wednesday. Brammertz will discuss Serbia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, and …

Macedonia’s junior government party, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI set a deadline of December for its senior ethnic Macedonian partner to solve the ongoing “name” spat with neighboring Greece. In December the country hopes to get a date from the EU council to start EU accession talks, …

Serbian President Boris Tadic is convinced that the decision of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, on whether Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence went against international law will be made in favor of Serbia. In an interview with Italian news agency ANSA, the president explained his optimism about the decision. …