Balkans

The director of the regional office of the UN Development Program for Europe, Kori Udovički, says the organization regrets the report published on Montenegro. In this internal UN report, Podgorica was referred to as “a provincial town” in which it was difficult for foreigners to live. Udovički told a press …

Croatia will testify before the International Court of Justice on behalf of Kosovo in December, a move daily Novi List believes will sour relations with Serbia. Croatia’s appearance before ICJ will not be taken lightly by Belgrade, and that Zagreb is steeling itself for a negative reaction. 

Macedonian Defense Minister Zoran Konjanovski and his Spanish counterpart Carme Chacon Piqueras signed today in Skopje a Memorandum for cooperation in the defense field. The memorandum affirms the commitment for mutual understanding, information exchange and increasing of volume of bilateral cooperation between the two ministries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Supreme Judicial Council are connected as far as the implementation of the measures under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism is concerned, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Rumyana Zheleva said during a meeting with Supreme Judicial Council representatives. Zheleva noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and …

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in Sofia on Wednesday on the latest leg of his Europe tour. In a written statement issued upon arrival at the airport, Xi said this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Bulgaria, which had maintained healthy …

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is participating actively in regional cooperation and further developing its bilateral relations with its neighbours. However, the name issue continues to affect relations with Greece, reads the European Commission’s 2009 progress report on the country, published Wednesday. The document stresses that relations with Greece …

Croatia has made good progress in meeting the benchmarks set in the accession negotiations. This surfaced today during the presentation of the EU 2009 enlargement strategy and progress reports for the countries from the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Albania has continued to make some progress in strengthening its government structures. At the same time, it needs to further strengthen the capacity, coordination and strategic planning for EU integration, reads the European Commission’s 2009 progress report for the country.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn says the European Commission, EC, has recommended that Macedonia start its EU accession negotiations. The move marks the country’s first major step towards integration in the bloc since it was granted the status of an EU candidate state in 2005. However, the report has not …

Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has confirmed Brussels’ stance that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot think seriously about European integration until the Office of the High Representative, OHR, is closed. “No quasi-protectorate can join the EU,” Rehn said. The EU “membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina could only be considered once [the] OHR …