Albania

Serbian and Albanian leaders have been sparring energetically on Twitter over the court ruling in Switzerland - which has delighted Albanians and infuriated many Serbs.

The cases concerned the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade on October 14, 2014, which was abandoned amid chaotic scenes on the pitch.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on Friday announced it has handed Albania a 3-0 victory in the abandoned qualifier played in October.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama praised the decision of the sports arbitration court on Friday to award the abandoned football match in Belgrade to Albania.

"Suppeeer, this is what means to have European justice, three point for the red-and-black football team," Rama wrote in reference to Albania's national colours.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, in homage to his artistic roots, has opened an art gallery on the first floor of the government building in Tirana - though not all artists seem appreciative.

Russian veto on British resolution on Srebrenica

The British draft resolution on Srebrenica has not been adopted by the United Nations Security Council, because Russia vetoed it.

Earlier in the day, Russia suggested that the document should not be put up for a vote at all.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel came within a few hundred kilometers of the Greek border on Wednesday, arriving in Tirana, the capital of Albania, to tell her hosts that  the EU will not “artificially” block their path towards EU accession.

She’s expected to press home the same message in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, her next stops in a mini tour of the western Balkans.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday in Tirana that the EU has no timetable for Albania to start membership talks, which she said depends on the pace of reforms.

Swiss TV on Monday reported the death of the 29-year-old athlete of Kosovo Albanian origin - who moved to Germany aged six - saying it was announced on Facebook in a post uploaded by his brother.

Gashi died last Saturday under circumstances that remain unclear, the Swiss public broadcaster, said.

After a large-scale manhunt, police on Sunday arrested Sokol Mjacaj, the suspect in the murder of Czech couple who were shot dead in their car while driving in a mountainous area in Albania's rugged north.

Michael Svatos, 27, and his partner Anna Kosinova, 36, were killed on a mountain road on Friday and their car was pushed into a ravine.

There are good prospects for Albania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said.