Balkans

Country’s two mainly Bosniak parties have agreed on their ministerial candidates for the new state government. Following the end of Bosnia’s prolonged political stalemate at the end of December 2011 and the appointment of the new Prime Minister on January 12, the country’s six main parties have started proposing ministers …

US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Reeker, will visit Skopje on Wednesday on a mission to boost stalled Greek-Macedonian “name” talks. The UN mediator in the dispute, Matthew Nimetz, on Monday and

Bulgaria’s Defense Minister Anyu Angelov is heading on a state visit in Israel for talks with his counterpart Ehud Barak. Amid reports of a terror threat to Israeli tourists in Sofia, Bulgarian Defense Minister Anu Anguelov will arrive in Tel

Kosovo deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci has refused to approve Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, his wife and ex-PM Božidar Đelić’s visit to Kosovo. The Karađorđevićs and Đelić were planning on visiting the Peć Patriarchate and the Visoki Dečani monastery. Kuci is in charge of approving Serbian officials’ visits to Kosovo and …

Greece’s foreign ministry says German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Athens Sunday for talks with senior officials. A ministry statement Friday said Westerwelle will

To allay suspicions of abuse of the law, Macedonia’s ruling party is contemplating making controversial dossiers of the former police informants available to the public. Macedonia’s governing VMRO DPMNE party says it’s mulling release of the dossiers to empower

Representatives of the Turkish community have welcomed a declaration by the Bulgarian parliament that condemned the forced assimilation policy used against

Bosnian lawmakers backed Vjekoslav Bevanda as the country’s new prime minister on Thursday, while a complete government is expected to be appointed next week. Bevanda was supported in the State Parliament by 31 votes; two MPs voted against him and three abstained.

The European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee supported Thursday the draft resolution urging approval of Serbia’s EU candidate status in March. MEPs also requested the start of the EU accession negotiations, primarily on the chapters regarding rule of law and judiciary.

European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur Jelko Kacin stated Wednesday Serbia deserved both the candidate status and a date for the beginning of the talks. He added that it was important for the most significant agreements in the dialogue with Priština to be implemented.