If Croatia has to wait for European Union entry, it will wait, but it cannot and will not go below the level of dignity regarding the border dispute with Slovenia, said Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on Wednesday in Zurich.
The "unfinished business" must not remain in the Balkans and to allow the region to become part of forgotten past, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Brussels.
A European Commission proposal to set up a mediation group in order to solve the year-long border dispute between Zagreb and Ljubljana and unblock Croatia's EU accession talks is the only "viable way forward," enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said on Tuesday
The European Union backed Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko as Bosnia's new EU and international high representative, pending approval by other members of the country's peace council, diplomats said.
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic believes that Serbo-Croatian relations will reach a high level despite the fact that Zagreb has recognized Kosovo independence.
EU Ministers, who will meet today in Brussels to debate how EULEX can push forward its Kosovo operation, will also discuss Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague.
The UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Kosovo, with UNMIK chief Lamberto Zannier and UN Secretary - General Ban Ki-Moon both presenting reports.
The US State Department cleared on Wednesday the US ambassador in Tirana, John L Withers and his staff of allegations that they helped cover up a murky arms deal between a pentagon contractor and the Albanian Ministry of Defence to supply the Afghan army.
The European Union should not freeze plans to admit Western Balkan countries as members, the bloc's enlargement chief said on Tuesday, responding to German doubts about the pace of expansion.
During an interview for the Kosovar state TV station, RTK, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, Skender Hyseni, has hinted that at the next UN session will request the termination of the UN's mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, saying "UNMIK has no more competences in Kosovo."
While Bosnia and Herzegovina’s time as an international protectorate is ending, which is in itself most welcome, now is the wrong time to rush the transition. The state put together by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement after a long war will never be secure and able to take its place in the European Union (EU) until it is responsible for the consequences of its own decisions. But tensions are currently high and stability is deteriorating, as Bosniaks and Serbs play a zero-sum game to upset the Dayton settlement. Progress toward EU membership is stalled, and requirements set in 2008 for ending the protectorate have not been not met.
Croatia and Albania are set to formally join NATO today after the two countries have filed documents with the U.S. Department of State endorsing the two countries as Alliance's members.
EULEX will formally proclaim today that it is working in full capacity in Kosovo, and will present its new central headquarters in Pristina. According to earlier announcements, the EU mission in Kosovo will have more than 2,000 personnel.
The Kosovo Liberation Army maintained a network of prisons in their bases in Albania and Kosovo during and after the conflict of 1999, eyewitnesses allege. Only now are the details of what occurred there emerging.
Slovene commercial television station POP TV on Tuesday evening revealed details of European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn's proposal for the settlement of a border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia and the unblocking of Croatia's EU accession negotiations, Hina reports.
The European Commission should adopt recommendations for visa liberalisation with Western Balkan countries on July 14, Krisztina Nagy, spokeswoman for Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said for Tanjug.
When the EC signalled that it was prepared to include Serbia among countries that would no longer need Schengen visas, the move was welcomed in Belgrade but immediately the question was raised – what about Kosovo?
Bulgaria's center-right opposition party is gearing up for coalition talks after beating the ruling Socialists in the country's first parliamentary elections since joining the European Union two years ago.
The Albanian parliament backed Prime Minister Sali Berisha's new coalition cabinet after a marathon debate. The vote, held late Wednesday shortly before midnight, was 74 in favour and one against.
