Bosnia and Herzegovina

Number of asylum seekers increases in December

BELGRADE -- Last year, about 16,500 people "had the intention to seek asylum in Serbia," and December saw a drastic increase in their number.

3,400 people requested asylum that month, heard a conference organized by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration in Belgrade on Thursday.

BELGRADE- Last year, about 16,500 people had the intention to seek asylum in Serbia, and December saw a drastic increase in the number of asylum seekers, with 3,400 people requesting asylum that month, it was said at a conference organized by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration in Belgrade on Thursday.

PM receives U.S. ambassador, gets "greeting card from Obama"

BELGRADE -- Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic received on Thursday U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby.

The diplomat presented him with "a personal New Year and Christmas card from President of the U.S. Barack Obama," Tanjug reported.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic received on Thursday U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby, who presented him with a personal New Year and Christmas card from President of the U.S. Barack Obama.

As the Serbian government's press office has stated in a release, Vucic and Kirby discussed several topics relating to Serbia's future, in economic terms in particular.

After numerous procedural difficulties, Bosnia's Central Election Commission, CIK, has finalized the appointment of delegates to the House of Peoples, one of two chambers of parliament in the Federation entity, commission officials told Balkan Insight.

Final certification is expected on Thursday after the CIK reviews the appeals it received on Wednesday afternoon.

Bosnia's parliament on Thursday will debate a resolution calling on the government to reject a proposed agreement with Montenegro aimed at determining the border.

The initiative, proposed by parliamentarian Denis Becirovic in November, says it is unacceptable for Bosnia to allow Montenegro to keep a part of the strategically important Bay of Kotor, close to the town of Herceg Novi.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has insisted that the sanctions against Russia should remain in place until the country starts fulfilling its commitments under the Minsk agreement.

New estimates of Croatia's likely GDP growth from the World Bank are not looking good for the country as it battles to exit a six-year economic crisis.

The World Bank in June 2014 estimated Croatia's GDP growth that year would be minus-0.5 per cent, rising to 1.2 per cent growth in 2015.

Serbians welcome in "Orthodox" New Year

BELGRADE -- Tens of thousands of people across the country on Tuesday celebrated the beginning of the new year according to the Julian calendar.

This is the calendar adhered to by the Serbian Orthodox Church, so the January 13 festivities are sometimes referred to as the Orthodox, or Serbian New Year.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his British counterpart, Phillip Hammond, are due in Bosnia later this week, to kick-start the new EU plan for the country, diplomatic sources told Balkan Insight on Wednesday.