Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean

By the end of this year, Montenegro and Albania will have a new border crossing aimed at solving the long-term problem of traffic congestion in this area.

Greece could turn to "another source" for funding in the event that a deal is not reached with its eurozone partners and Berlin in particular, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Monday night, adding that the government - in which his party is the junior partner - has an "obligation to go to Plan B."

The air traffic control agency, SMATSA, expects to earn more than 68 million eurofrom route charges in 2015, after some major European airlines relocated flight paths over Serbia and Montenegro due to the armed conflicts in Ukraine.

Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are no closer to settling a row over their borders in the Sutorina area.
 
As far as Montenegro is concerned, the Sutorina issue should be removed from discussion as soon as possible, the Foreign Minister, Igor Lukcic, told a parliamentary hearing on Friday.  "Our position is clear and I do not see that anything can change it," Luksic said.

Albanian officer killed in Spain while trafficking drugs

TIRANA -- Albanian Army Major Sokol Feka was the pilot of a helicopter that crashed yesterday in Spain while transporting narcotics from Morocco.

Feka served in the Albanian military for 18 years and was made major in 2009. He is described as "a pilot who enjoyed the highest degree of trust."

Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanvic on Tuesday has condemned attempts by academics and some politicians in Bosnia to revive a dispute over the two countries' borders.

The row erupted after a number of Bosnian academics claimed that a short stretch of the Montenegrin coast belonged by right to Bosnia.

Spain's ambassador to Turkey has refuted media reports suggesting that his country has suspended its activities in the "Alliance of Civilizations" jointly launched by Ankara and Madrid. 

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.

Egypt is open to importing gas from Israel, its oil minister said in state-owned media Jan. 14, another sign that it may lean on its neighbor to help tackle its energy troubles.

Egypt is going through its worst energy crisis in decades and is seeking fresh sources of natural gas, which powers most of its homes and factories, including Algeria, Russia, and Cyprus.

Danka Tesic from the regional East Sarajevo police force told Balkan Insight on Monday that rescue teams were still struggling to remove the bodies of the three dead people from under the bus after the crash, which was probably caused by bad weather conditions.