Balkans

PRISTINA, Kosovo The EU rule of law mission, EULEX, cannot and will not sign any agreement in the name of Kosovo, EULEX head Yves De Kermabon said on Thursday. Kermabon was speaking after a meeting with Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. “EULEX, as a technical rule …

BELGRADE, Serbia Russian ambassador in Belgrade Aleksandr Konuzin said that a series of strategic agreements will be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit. A representative delegation will be accompanying Medvedev during his first trip to Serbia, expected in late October. The visit is expected to include discussions on a …

THE HAGUE, Holland Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić said on Tuesday that he did not regret his role in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and that his conscience was clear. Karadžić, who is being tried on war crimes and genocide charges by the UN tribunal in The Hague, added that …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Branko Crvenkovski, the leader of the opposition SDSM encouraged the government to engage itself in substantial negotiations over the name in order to reach a settlement on the perennial dispute with Greece. Crvenkovski sent a message that SDSM will not take populist approach and called the Government “to …

BULGARIA The new Bulgarian Government has replaced another ten District Governors appointed by the previous Council of Ministers. The GERB cabinet released of duty the Governors of Vidin, Kyustendil, Lovech, Pazardzhik, Pleven, Razgrad, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Shumen, and Yambol. This list of the the new district governors is as follows:

BULGARIA The Bulgarian Government has voted Wednesday for the creation of a specialized center “Transplantations Fund” which will assist those in need. The total sum that is needed to cover the transplantations in Bulgaria amounts to BGN 96 M, Health Minister, Bozhidar Nanev, reported Wednesday after the Council of Ministers …

PRISTINA, Kosovo The head of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, ICK, claims that a number of Arab states will recognise Kosovo shortly. “I cannot be certain when, but […] in the remaining part of the year, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen and Oman will recognise Kosovo’s independence,” Naim Ternava was quoted by …

MACEDONIA UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s has expressed pessimism regarding the Greek response to his recently proferred proposals for solving the Athens-Skopje naming dispute. So far there is no official information on the content of the Greek response. A brief UN press release on the meeting between Nimetz and Greek representative …

SERBIA Serbian President Boris Tadic says that Serbia will propose a new package of measures dealing with public expenditure and administration cuts in upcoming talks with IMF officials. “We need […] to rearrange public spending,” Tadic acknowledged in comments carried by Fonet news agency. He added that the best policy …

PRIŠTINA The president and government of Kosovo oppose the announced signing of an agreement between the Serbian police (MUP) and EULEX, reports from Priština said. The deal is meant to foster cooperation between the EU mission in Kosovo and Serbia’s Interior Ministry and police. But the Albanian language media are …