A collection of 14 posts
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the EU for imposing new sanctions instead of providing assistance and for depriving Hungary and Poland of the recovery funds they were entitled to, in his annual “state of the nation” speech in Budapest on Sunday, 19 February. Standing in front of a sign
Croatia will become the Schengen zone’s newest member on 1 January, the Council of the EU announced on Thursday, 8 December. Croatia will “take two important steps in its European integration, by joining both the euro and the Schengen areas”, noted Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, whose country has
European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the EU’s EUR 29bn investment package for the Western Balkans “has the potential to transform the region and boost its economy to a level of prosperity never seen before”, at the official opening of the Open Balkan Summit in Belgrade on Friday. A functioning
Austria’s foreign and European affairs minister said he expects the countries in the Western Balkans (WB) to join the EU, after he met Serbian government officials in Belgrade on Monday, 13 June. Alexander Schallenberg added that he hopes Serbia and other WB states will align their stances on Russia
Serbian and Croatian business organisations are calling for less friction in the flow of goods across their common border, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, local media reported. At a meeting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on Monday, Serbian Chamber of Commerce president Marko Cadez and Croatian Chamber
Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev officially stood down as leader of the country’s ruling party SDSM on Saturday, in the wake of right-wing opposition VMRO-DPMNE’s landslide victory in local elections earlier this month. So far only Deputy Finance Minister Dimitar Kovacevski has announced a candidacy to
Albania and North Macedonia are on the march towards EU accession talks, according to the latest annual European Commission (EC) progress report that assesses the membership chances of those two Western Balkan countries as well as Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are collectively known as the WB6.
EU leaders reaffirmed their commitment for six Western Balkan countries to join the Union, but held off opening full negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia at a one-day EU Summit in the Slovenian city of Brdo. “The Western Balkans are part of the same Europe as the European Union. The
With hopes of Bulgaria lifting its veto on North Macedonia’s potential bid to join the European Union, today Bulgaria’s president, Rumen Radev, will get a chance to meet with the prime minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, at a high-level gathering in Slovenia including Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Leaders of EU member states and six countries in the Western Balkans – known as the WB6 – will renew vows of a “shared future” at Brdo Castle near Slovenia capital Ljubljana on 6 October. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen travelled to all of the WB6 capitals in
Western Balkan countries lose around 5.5 billion euros each year through the emigration of young citizens, a new report by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy found. The research, which looked at Serbia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, concluded that the education of a child into adulthood costs
The US administration of president Joe Biden is hoping the integration of the Western Balkan countries in the the EU can speed up from its snail-like pace – and Washington will push to reinvigorate the process, a senior US State Department official has said. Gabriel Escobar, the recently named acting deputy
This summer six Western Balkan countries abolished mobile phone roaming charges, in what is seen as a positive step towards the eventual expansion of the European Union. Since July 1, roaming citizens of the south-east European region have been able to call text and surf online for the same fees
The Balkan countries are important for Germany – that’s seemingly the reason why German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who’s set to step down from her post following elections this autumn, is taking an extensive “farewell tour,” meeting with leaders from six Balkan states – some of them EU aspirants – in the