Balkans

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will be in Skopje, North Macedonia, on January 21-22 for a summit of the Open Balkan initiative and a Western Balkans-EU summit on the EU Growth Plan for the region, the presidential press office announced in a statement on Tuesday.

MADRID - Spanish FM Jose Manuel Albares has reiterated that Madrid's decision to accept passports issued by the so-called Kosovo did not mean a recognition and noted that such claims were a "hoax" by the Spanish opposition People's Party.

The situation in some parts of the Western Balkans is volatile and problematic in the rest.

BRUSSELS - The European Council on Friday released a package of conclusions adopted at the December 14-15 Brussels summit, in which it reaffirmed "its full and unequivocal commitment to the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans", calling for acceleration of the region's accession process.

The United States is looking forward to the "continuation of the strong partnership with Greece" in energy cooperation, Geoffrey Pyatt, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources and former ambassador to Greece, has said.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed to bring the economies of the Western Balkans and the European Union 'closer' on Monday as she began a four-day tour of the region. Her plan includes a €6 billion investment package, to be delivered on condition the countries make reforms to open up their economies, overcome their conflicts and modernize their administrations.

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic announced on Wednesday Serbia would have over 700 km of high-speed rail lines within a decade.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on North Macedonia to finish the changes to its constitution.

She gave a joint briefing with Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in Skopje, where she is visiting as part of her tour of the Western Balkans.

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be in Belgrade on Tuesday as part of a four-day visit to the Western Balkans, where she will present the details of an EU growth plan for the region, the EC announced on Friday.

She will arrive in Belgrade on Tuesday afternoon and meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and PM Ana Brnabic.

NEW YORK - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and other Western Balkan issues Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday he and US special Western Balkans envoy Gabriel Escobar and State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet shared the same reading of the situation in the region and were on the same line on the way forward.