Balkans

PRAGUE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric, who is on his first official visit to Czechia, met with the country's FM Jan Lipavsky in Prague on Monday, noting that the two economies were developing alongside each other and that Serbia was making progress on its EU path thanks to Czech support.

WASHINGTON - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, noting that preserving peace and stability in the region was a necessary prerequisite for its further political, economic and any other development.

WASHINGTON - US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien told Tanjug on Monday the risk in the Balkans was that "some local battles will turn into a political conflagration that will hold back the states of the region."

The 2023 census in Albania not only showed alarming demographic data but stirred a fresh round of tensions with the Balkan nation's neighbors. 

Figures published late last week showed that the country's population shrank by 14% in 12 years from approximately 2.8 million to around 2.4 million. 

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic met with Giulio Tramonti, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Italian House of Representatives, to discuss further advancement of parliamentary cooperation as an important segment of bilateral relations.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis stressed the importance of safeguarding the European path of all the countries of the Balkans and the wider region in a period of tough challenges.

"Greece is at the center of geopolitical developments in our region and, thanks to the infrastructure it had in Revithoussa, it managed not only not to face the danger but also to support the energy systems of neighboring countries," said Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Alexandra Sdoukou, at the roundtable on "European Policy for Energy and Climate, Transnational Cooperation and the G

TRIESTE - Serbian PM Milos Vucevic said on Friday in Trieste Serbia's objective was to become a full member of the EU and noted that it was impossible to complete the European story without EU accession for the Western Balkans.

BRUSSELS - A UN resolution on Srebrenica will cause further division in the Balkans, and reaching a consensus on memorialising the past in a way that does not sow division is the best way to ensure it does not - and cannot - happen again, Serbian FM Marko Djuric wrote in an article for the politico.eu portal.

Greece is the most powerful country in the Balkans. It has no reason to be caught up in the bluster and nationalist grandstanding of a bygone era that have reared their ugly heads in the region again.