Balkans

Athens/Nicosia – Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias called on the Turkish Cypriots to test the will of the Greek Cypriots for a Cyprus settlement as the south marked 50 years of independence on Friday. In his address to the Cypriot people on the occasion of the Republic of Cyprus anniversary, …

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to begin an official visit to Bulgaria Monday to hold talks with senior Bulgarian officials on issues of common interest. During his stay in Bulgaria, the Turkish PM will hold talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov on ways of boosting bilateral relations …

Albania – The new OSCE head in Tirana, Eugen Wollfarth, has urged the government to start preparing for next spring’s local elections. “It is necessary to start early administrative preparations in line with OSCE recommendations,” Wollfarth said on Wednesday (September 29th) after meeting with Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Wollfarth promised …

Serbian President Boris Tadic will attend Sunday’s (October 3rd) enthronement ceremony of Serbian Patriarch Irinej at the Patriarchy in Pec, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Synod announced on Wednesday. The SPC warned against provocations or politicising the religious event. Bishop Irinej, of Nis, was elected as SPC head on January …

Acting Kosovo president Jakup Krasnici says that elections for the assembly in Priština could be held in six months’ time. Fatmir Sejdiu resigned from that position last week. “Until institutions in Kosovo have been formed, negotiations with Serbia should not be entered into,” he said. Krasnici also said he believed …

U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met in Washington on Wednesday. It was announced that they discussed “ways of assisting in the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo”. At a news conference after the meeting, which was used to discuss the Middle East peace process …

The NATO Military Committee is praising the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) but notes that it is still early for local forces to take over the protection of Kosovo’s borders. Military Committee Chairman Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola said that the KSF is “doing an excellent job and we are satisfied with …

Slovakia approved on Wednesday a complete withdrawal of the country’s troops from Kosovo by the end of the year, allowing upped deployment of its forces in Afghanistan, the defence ministry said. “Slovakia will withdraw all 140 troops currently operating in Kosovo by the end of the year,” ministry spokesman Richard …

Greek FM Dimitris Droutsas told the UN General Assembly that a path for beginning of Serbia’s accession negotiations with the EU should be kept open and clear. He pointed out that acceptance of his country’s initiative to have all Balkans countries in the EU by 2014 would contribute to progress …

The dispute between Athens and Skopje about the use of the name Macedonia has been raised by leaders from the two countries in speeches and meetings at the United Nations General Assembly.