New Democracy’s Mitsotakis sworn in as Greece’s new PM


The leader of the conservative New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as Greece’s new prime minister on Monday, just 15 hours after voting ended. In a swift move, the result of Sunday’s elections was formally submitted to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Mitsotakis was prime minister by 1 pm (1000 GMT). Mitsotakis was expected […]

Zaev in Serbian Politika: Relations between North Macedonia and Serbia are traditionally good and improving


Relations between North Macedonia and Serbia are traditionally good and improving, as shown by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s extending his invitation to the Grdelica Valley highway opening ceremony, North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told Serbian newspaper Politika. “Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabic and I will soon start to cooperate on another project in the […]

Poznan Summit – EU pledges support for Western Balkan countries


At the Poznań Summit on the Western Balkans, the EU confirmed its commitment to strengthen cooperation with the region with a set of concrete measures focusing on five key areas: transport and energy, digital, economy, security and good neighbourly relations. Heads of Government, Foreign Ministers, Ministers of Economy and Interior from the Western Balkans, together […]

Western Balkans conference today in Poznan


The Western Balkans conference is held today and tomorrow in Poznan as part of the Berlin process. This meeting will guide the policies of the new European Commission for the Balkans. The most important guest of this conference, which has been convening each year since 2014, is German chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel is also the […]

Extraordinary European Summit in Brussels on 30 June and 1 July


EU leaders will meet at an extraordinary summit in Brussels tonight to continue the process of appointing leading positions in the Union’s institutions. This is the third summit since the completion of the European elections, which should reach a consensus on who will represent the EU in the next five-year period. The EU should nominate […]

Merkel: Leaders in the region should follow Zaev and Tsipras’ example of courage


“Many German citizens have personal relations with people from the Western Balkans, many people from the Western Balkans live in Germany and represent a bridge between the countries. The people of these countries are our neighbors and their perspective is to join the EU while meeting all criteria,” Chancellor Merkel told Sunday’s video-podcast regarding this […]

Polling stations open in Albania amidst tension and unrest


Polling stations have opened in Albania as voters elect their municipal representatives. These elections are held at a time when the opposition has boycotted them, while the president of the country has issued a decree revoking the elections and setting a new date for them. However, the government has insisted that these elections be held […]

Haradinaj: Government aware of destabilization plans in the north of Kosovo


Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj said Kosovo security mechanisms have information about plans for destabilization being prepared by certain people in the north, under Belgrade’s coordination. “Attempts by different Serb actors, officials and business people in the North of Mitrovica in coordination with authorities in Belgrade to present a humanitarian catastrophe in this part […]

Polls show New Democracy in 9 point lead over SYRIZA


Two more opinion polls published over the weekend showed Greece’s main opposition party well on course to score a landslide general election victory over ruling SYRIZA on 7 July. Following the publication of surveys by Pulse and Alco polls which put conservative New Democracy in an 8 to 9.2 point lead over Alexis Tsipras’s left-wing […]

Paris summit will be postponed


The Paris summit, where top representatives of Serbia and Kosovo were supposed to meet, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has been postponed. This was confirmed by the German government’s press service. “It is true that the meeting announced for July 1 will be postponed. Germany and France […]

The elections in Istanbul will determine Turkey’s political landscape


The stakes are high today, with elections being held for the mayor of Istanbul, but all political analysts agree that the outcome of the elections will also have a major influence on political developments in the country. The city of 18 million inhabitants with the 10 million eligible voters always determines the developments and it […]

Paris summit may not take place


French President Emmanuel Macron has invited leaders of Kosovo and Serbia in a meeting in Paris, however, this meeting may not be held after all. The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli maintains that he would never agree to discuss Mitrovica or any other part of the country’s territory on this table […]

North Macedonia gains 23 spots in the World Peace Index


North Macedonia has gained 23 spots in the World Peace Index compared to last year, while sharing the 65th position with Greece. Among the 25 top countries on the list, 17 countries are in Europe. For 11 years in a row, Iceland has been considered as the safest country to live in, while Afghanistan ranks last, […]

Bad news for Kosovo’s visa liberalization


Brussels is looking into the proposal to lift visa regime for Kosovo, however, chances are that this decision may be postponed. France and some other EU countries believe that Kosovo is yet to deliver the necessary criteria for the liberalization of visas. French senator Helen Conway-Moyret has published on Twitter the response coming from the […]

Juncker: There’s no integration for Kosovo and Serbia without a bilateral agreement


President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has told Kosovo and Serbia that they shouldn’t hope for EU integration unless they reach a deal that would normalize ties between them. “We would not like to import instability within the EU, but we would like to export stability to these countries”, Juncker said. The head of the […]

Clinton: Kosovo deserves NATO and EU integration


Former US President Bill Clinton said on Tuesday in Pristina that Kosovo deserves integration in the European Union and NATO, expressing his conviction that the US will continue to fully support Kosovo in its journey ahead. “I think Kosovo deserves to be part of the European Union, NATO and every other organization that an independent […]

Osmani: North Macedonia and Kosovo are connecting intensively


North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bujar Osmani and Kosovo’s Deputy PM Enver Hoxhaj visited Monday the construction site of strategic project Belanovce in Republic of North Macedonia – Stancic border crossing point in Kosovo. “This building is a joint project of the two countries having in mind that for its realization the […]

When you are going through hard times, remember Croatia’s path to the EU


Jadranka Kosor was Croatia’s prime minister in the period between 2009 and 2011, when, after the resignation of the controversial Ivo Sanader, she succeeded the helm of the HDZ party. While serving as the head of the government in Zagreb, an agreement was reached to overcome the border dispute with Slovenia, which meant unblocking Croatia’s […]

The Netherlands doesn’t give the green light for Albania’s accession talks


The Dutch government will continue to keep the doors for Albania’s accession talks closed. The confirmation has come from the Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok during a parliamentary debate with opposition parties. “The government is not interested on opening accession talks between EU and Albania. Albania still has a long journey ahead”, he said. Meanwhile, […]

Former presidents of the region issue a message for Brussels


The European Union must set a date for the launch of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. This has been the message issued by former presidents of the Balkan region during a regional conference hosted in Skopje under the auspices of former President of North Macedonia, Branko Crvenkovski. In the joint document, the former […]