Baroness Catherine Ashton writing for the Russian Коммерсантъ describes the Balkans as the “cradle of war for 100 years”. A notion Afghans, Arabs, Kenyans, Malayans, Irish, Boers, Zulus, or Chinese among others would find hard to comprehend. Wikipedia: List of Wars Involving Great Britain
The presidential elections in Montenegro, held on April 7th, have placed this country in the spotlight of the region during the last few weeks due to the political crises their contested outcome has produced.
Baroness Ashton of the Balkans On Thursday Serbian PM Ivica Dačić and his Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci put their initials on the final text of the agreement on the special status of the Serb municipalities in Kosovo. Last week’s two additional rounds of talks mediated by the EU’s Catherine Ashton resulted in a compromise solution […]
Still no solutions to the regional disputes The previous week started with the Serbian government officially refusing the EU-brokered offer on the status of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. Apparently, the offer was not presented in writing, but consisted of a set of principles read out to the Pristina and Belgrade delegations last Tuesday by Catherine […]
On April 7th 2013 Montenegro held presidential elections in which incumbent president Filip Vujanović squared against Miodrag Lekić. In the closely contested elections Mr Vujanović was declared winner by the margin of only about 7000 votes, but the united opposition that supported Mr Lekić disputes the results, and has demanded a recount. While we are […]
An opportunity to name a country is a rare occasion. Greek politicians have been savoring this opportunity for 22 years. Why don’t we all join them? What name would the Orient Express readers choose for Macedonia? Choose among the proposals already discussed, or even better – be creative and help Greece and Macedonia overcome their […]
Serbia-Kosovo Talks Hit Stalemate The week has started less than promisingly for Belgrade and Pristina, as their representatives failed to reach agreement in the 8th round of EU mediated talks. Both delegations arrived back at their capitals without having agreed on the role and jurisdiction of the Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo. After 12 […]
Two international experts on the Balkan affairs Dusan Reljic and Lazar Kekic have been guests of the CISBalk last Tuesday. Dusan Reljic, senior research associate from the German Institute for International Affairs, has shared his thoughts about contemporary foreign policies of Russia, Turkey, the European Union and the US towards the Balkan region. “As the […]
The Albanian national question in the Balkans The last reis-ul-ulema of the Islamic community of Yugoslavia, Jakub Selimoski, died after brief hospital treatment in Skopje and in Istanbul. In the early 1990s Selimoski, an ethnic Macedonian of Islamic faith, was considered a supporter of preserving Yugoslavia, and made efforts to resist open the politicization and […]
