Tirana

In a major boost to the EU membership hopes of both Balkan countries, the German Bundestag on Thursday night voted to support the start of EU accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania.

The vote means the German government should be "in favour" of a start date for the two countries at the European Council meeting on October 17-18.

The announcement of the European Council's decision on accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania is expected at the European Union summit next month, and its outgoing president, Donald Tusk, visited both Tirana and Skopje last week.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday met with his counterparts from Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia in New York to discuss the future of the Western Balkans and ways to strengthen regional cooperation.

The first-ever Pride March passed off peacefully in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after starting Sunday at noon. After the participants gathered in front of the Eternal Flame, a well-known memorial dedicated to victims of World War II, a few hundred people marched through Tito Street, Sarajevo's main street, and ended in front of the state-level parliament.

The Special Representative

The news this week that veteran US diplomat Matthew Palmer had been appointed as his country's Special Representative for the Western Balkans has generated a great deal of excitement and expectation in the Balkans.

Abanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at his party headquarters in June. Photo: Gent Shkullaku/LSA

However, Irfan Hysenbelliu, the owner of News 24, a local station based in Tirana, denied he was pressured by the government, while Rama's office called the allegations "fake news".

"The European narrative has been wounded," Veliaj, 39, told BIRN in an interview in July hours before he was sworn in for a second term as mayor of the Albanian capital.

"Telling Albania and other countries in the Western Balkans 'we'll consider next year, you still have some work to do' and once you fulfil that list, you see you are not being rewarded, is disappointing," he said.

A team of intelligence officers, including Bulgarians, is trying to block an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and works against the interests of Belgrade. This is what Serbian parliamentary committee for Kosovo, Milovan Drecun, said in an interview with Serbian newspaper Kurir. According to him, the team is based in Skopje.

Protests have been organised in recent days by activists in Tirana, Belgrade and Podgorica against the damage done to the environment by the building of hydro-power plants.

They were staged under the umbrella name Action Weeks for Balkan Rivers, a joint project by various environmental NGOs, with the slogan "Our rivers - no damage!"

Starting from this Saturday until July 16, protests against the damage done to the environment by hydro-power plants will be staged in several Balkan capitals, under the umbrella name Action Weeks for Balkan Rivers, a joint action of several environmental non-government organisations.