Category: EU Western Balkans

BRUSSELS – The French proposal for resolving bilateral issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia will bury the enlargement process and seriously hurt the already tattered image of the EU in the region, believe members of Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG), Nikola Dimitrov and Florian Bieber. In an op-ed for EU Observer, they stress […]

BELGRADE – Civil Rights Defenders offer a limited number of scholarships for representatives and activists of human rights organisations who would otherwise be unable to participate in the Conference for financial and other reasons.  The  Scholarship Programme was established to expand the mission of the Conference to work on building the capacities of both regional […]

BRUSSELS – Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday marked the 27th anniversary of Srebrenica genocide, bidding farewell to 50 newly identified victims of the 1995 massacre at a memorial service.  The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi have spoken out on the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre at the hands of Bosnian […]

STRASBOURG – On Wednesday, European Parliament outlined its assessment of the political situation in three accession countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. In Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina and reiterated the country’s European perspective, urged BiH political leaders to implement reforms and warned about the issue of the electoral law and the harmful policies […]

The June leaders’ meeting between the EU and the Western Balkans left the region frustrated as none of the countries made any formal progress on their EU accession path. Leading up to the meeting, some raised hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina might be granted candidate status together with Ukraine and Moldova, but this did not […]

SKOPJE – Following the meeting of the Security Council of North Macedonia on Sunday, President Stevo Pendarovski described the French proposal to lift the Bulgarian veto as acceptable but also downplayed expectations that it would significantly accelerate the negotiation process of North Macedonia. Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski announced that the consultations on the proposal continue. […]

PRISTINA – Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti told reporters that European Union Representative for Belgrade – Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajčák was informed about Kosovo’s activities regarding its decision on reciprocal measures for Serbian citizens and vehicles entering Kosovo. “There is no sudden or completely new development because their licence plates have markings on them […]

Last week’s European Council meetings, as well as the conference with the leaders of the Western Balkans that preceded it, have left the region disappointed due to the lack of progress on any of the countries’ EU accession process. A glimmer of hope was found by some observers in the conclusions of the European Council, […]

MADRID – Leaders of the world’s largest military alliance convened in Madrid this week. This high-stakes meeting came at a time of heightened global tension amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. Many observers believe that this is the most important NATO summit in the past decade. According to the western media, moves by NATO this week […]

BRUSSELS– The decision not to open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia has jeopardized the EU’s credibility and the perception of the citizens of the Western Balkans, it was said during the conference in European Parliament “Green Wave in the Western Balkans “, organized by the Greens/EFA. At the event, MEPs and actors from […]