Balkans

This month marked the 5th anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Slobodan Milosevic, ushering in a new period of democratisation and sweeping economic change. Today the average citizen is far less interested in politics, and far more in the economy and daily survival. According to analysts, Serbia registered significant economic …

Meeting for the last time prior to the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Accords, the political directors of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board have hailed recent progress in three crucial areas — defence, the police and public broadcasting.

Daniel Morar, the young prosecutor who was appointed chief of the National Prosecutor’s Office (PNA) in August, is not satisfied with the way the most important anti-corruption organisation in Romania is doing its job. “We found numerous files treating small corruption cases, which are suffocating our specialists. Meanwhile, the 40 …

EU foreign ministers concluded at their Luxembourg summit that Serbia has significantly moved forward with democratic reforms. On Monday (3 October), they gave the green light for Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) to start Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) talks. The achievement of this milestone comes at a symbolically important juncture — the …

European Parliament President Josep Borrell called on Wednesday (5 October) for a new effort to end the 31-year division of Cyprus. “I think we have to use the momentum created by the opening of negotiations with Turkey in order to (launch) a new initiative on a Cyprus settlement,” Borrell said …

Kai Eide, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special envoy tasked with assessing the implementation of standards in Kosovo, has wrapped up a visit to Pristina, that included meetings with President Ibrahim Rugova and other officials of the provisional government. In comments following the talks, he warned that much more must …

Re-runs of the 3 July parliamentary elections were held in three Albanian constituencies Sunday (21 August). The Central Election Commission (CEC) ordered the partial repetition of the poll due to voting irregularities that prompted more than 300 challenges of last month’s election results. According to preliminary figures, between 30 per …

Albania has been granted $8m by the United States, in recognition of its role in international peacekeeping and the global war on terror, the US Embassy announced last month. The money is being provided through the US Coalition Solidarity Fund (CSF) and President George W. Bush’s Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative …

The anticipated contract between Italy’s Fiat and the Zastava automobile factory in Kragujevac has been the subject of ongoing discussion in the Serbian media. Many details remain unclear. In general, the deal calls for Zastava to begin producing an older model of the Fiat Punto, as well as providing spare …

Hundreds of policemen who were doing desk jobs are being obliged to go onto the streets to fight crime and cope with Romania’s severe traffic problems. Numerous commanding officers have seen their jobs vanish and are having to choose between retirement or accepting a lower-level position. These are the most …