Bosnia and Herzegovina

PRISTINA - The community of Serb municipalities is a form of association and cannot be a non-governmental organization, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in Pristina Wednesday.

Weeks ahead of the eagerly-expected arrival of Pope Francis in Sarajevo, Bosnia's Roman Catholic Primate, Cardinal Archbishop Vinko Puljic, has revealed the first official organizational details.

During his visit to the Bosnian capital on June 6, Pope Francis is scheduled to hold an open air mass and meet political leaders.

RS leader: Srebrenica was "huge crime"

BELGRADE -- Milorad Dodik has said that the crime in Srebrenica "did not represent the struggle for Serbdom, but the biggest blow to Serbdom, and cowardice."

Furthermore, added the president of the Serb Republic (RS) entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina, "we need the truth that everyone will accept."

A regional ministerial conference opened in Kosovo on Wednesday, bringing together the Foreign and Infrastructure ministers of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

US programme helps Balkans get closer to NATO

Military-to-military co-operation with the US improves several Balkan countries' efforts to advance their defence systems and become NATO members.

Members of the Maryland National Guard train with soldiers from Bosnia and Herzegovina. [Defense.gov]

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik talked in Belgrade on Tuesday about the economic, social and political situation in Serbia and RS.

Radicals protest, burn EU, U.S., NATO flags

BELGRADE -- Supporters of the Serb Radical Party (SRS) on Tuesday staged a protest in Belgrade when they burned flags of NATO, the EU, the United States, and Kosovo.

The protest was held in front of the General Staff building in Belgrade that was destroyed in the NATO bombing that started this day 16 years ago.

Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia are set to sign a agreement on their joint participation in the new NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

The defence ministers of the countries will shortly sign the technical contract on deploying troops in a joint unit in a mission codenamed Resolute Support, which launched in January.

The mayor and leaders of a Bosnian Serb town are in hot water for advocating closer ties with Turkey - a country that many Bosnian Serbs see as the international champion of Bosnia's Muslims.

"The current visa regime toward Kosovo is cynical injustice, which should come to and sooner than later, because it does not only offend the dignity of Kosovo's people but also the dignity of Europe," Rama said on Monday.

"Keeping Kosovo under the current visa regime is a shame for Europe," he added.