Southeastern Europe

Bosnia's Foreign Minister said he welcomed this week's British-German initiative, offering Bosnia faster progress towards the European Union in exchange for a firm commitment from the country's politicians to undertake substantive reform.

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BELGRADE - Nearly 1.5 million people in Serbia are directly engaged in agriculture, and every fifth Serbian performs regular or seasonal agricultural work, it was stated at a press conference held Thursday in the Media Center in Belgrade.

NIS - Serbia is committed to the negotiation process and has so far demonstrated good preparedness for it, Oscar Benedict, deputy head of the EU Mission to Serbia, said in Nis on Thursday.

Two senior members of the European Parliament said allegations of corruption made by an EU rule-of-law mission prosecutor could seriously damage Brussels’ reputation in Kosovo if proved true.

Priština wants "diplomatic relations within 4 years"

BELGRADE -- Priština is preparing new demands ahead of the resumption of the Kosovo dialogue, including "establishing diplomatic relations with Serbia within four years."

The power distribution and power supply companies of CEZ in Bulgaria, CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD and CEZ Electro Bulgaria AD, have reported a joint loss of BGN 6.5 M for the first nine months of 2014, according to a media statement of CEZ Bulgaria.

Bulgaria's ministries of agriculture, regional development and transport have reported shortfalls which are expected to be covered by the budget update.

A total of BGN 92 M is necessary for the payment of subsidies to farmers and for the co-financing of EU projects for the development of rural areas.

BELGRADE - Serbia, as a candidate for EU membership, will play a key role in solving the Ukrainian crisis once it takes over the OSCE chairmanship in 2015, France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said.

Minister: Region has vast development potential

BELGRADE -- The region has vast untapped potential for development of the private sector through funding in exchange for a share of corporate equity, says Željko Sertić.

Serbia's "essential role" in resolving Ukraine crisis

BELGRADE -- French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said Serbia will "play an essential role" in resolving the crisis in Ukraine, when it assumed OSCE presidency in 2015.