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Articles for Balkan, search results for nations

England to face Serbia in European qualifying for 2026 FIFA World Cup
1 week, 4 days ago

England to face Serbia in European qualifying for 2026 FIFA World Cup

Al Jazeera  

The draw for the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has pitted England against Serbia in the group stage. Spain take on Netherlands in their Nations League quarterfinal, and the winner will join Turkiye, Georgia and Bulgaria in Group E while the losing team goes into Group G alongside Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta. World Cup 2022 runners-up …

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Serbia makes a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a shift away from Russia
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Serbia makes a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a shift away from Russia

Associated Press  

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday announced a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a move that shifts his country away from its dependence on Russian arms. Macron called called the deal “historic and important,” and said it demonstrated Serbia’s “strategic courage.” “The European Union needs a strong and democratic Serbia at its side …

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Zelenskyy seeks support, arms at Albania summit of Balkan nations
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Zelenskyy seeks support, arms at Albania summit of Balkan nations

Al Jazeera  

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tried to drum up Balkan support for his vision of peace in Ukraine and has promoted the idea of joint arms production at a two-day summit of Southeast European countries. Longtime Moscow ally Serbia has not imposed sanctions, and neither Belgrade nor Kyiv recognise the independence of Kosovo, Serbia’s former predominantly Albanian southern province, which backs …

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European Union leaders to hold a summit with Western Balkans nations to discuss joining the bloc
1 year, 2 months ago

European Union leaders to hold a summit with Western Balkans nations to discuss joining the bloc

The Independent  

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What is behind renewed tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?
1 year, 2 months ago

What is behind renewed tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?

Associated Press  

BELGRADE, Serbia — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew over the weekend when some 30 heavily armed Serbs barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery in northern Kosovo, setting off a daylong gunbattle with police that left one officer and three attackers dead. Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians, most of whom are Muslim, meanwhile, view Kosovo as their country and accuse …

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Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy meets with Balkan leaders in Athens
1 year, 4 months ago

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy meets with Balkan leaders in Athens

Associated Press  

ATHENS, Greece — Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday with leaders of Balkan nations and the head of the European Commission on the sidelines of a meeting between European and Balkan leaders in the Greek capital. Speaking to reporters, Vucic described the meeting as “good and open.” “I repeated that Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, unlike some who …

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A thought-provoking rail odyssey through the Balkans
1 year, 11 months ago

A thought-provoking rail odyssey through the Balkans

The Independent  

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A likely herald of climate change was the 78 metre high gushing waterfall being reduced to a trickle, a shadow …

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Amid the war in Ukraine, Eastern Europe is growing stronger
1 year, 11 months ago

Amid the war in Ukraine, Eastern Europe is growing stronger

Al Jazeera  

As 2022 is coming to a close, the war in Ukraine rages unabated. Germany’s cautious approach, banking on the notion that dense commercial links would create commonality of interest with Moscow, prevailed and was embraced by other major Western European powers, including France. That was the case even after Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and the first stage in …

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Germany urges western Balkan leaders to resolve conflicts
2 years, 1 month ago

Germany urges western Balkan leaders to resolve conflicts

Associated Press  

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday told leaders of six Balkan countries that aspire to join the European Union that “it is high time to overcome regional conflicts” and stand together as Russia wages war in Ukraine. Scholz highlighted the need to deliver on the countries’ longstanding desire to join the EU, which he said “is in our …

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EU revisits Balkans to win friends, seek more influence
2 years, 1 month ago

EU revisits Balkans to win friends, seek more influence

Associated Press  

BRUSSELS — The European Union is in the midst of yet another goodwill trip through the Western Balkans to drum up support for the bloc and to make sure that Europe’s historical tinderbox is not about to pick the side of hostile Russia or strategic rival China in the world of geopolitics. During her whirlwind six-nation tour, EU Commission President …

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Serbia toughens visa rules as migration prompts EU pressure
2 years, 1 month ago

Serbia toughens visa rules as migration prompts EU pressure

Associated Press  

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia is seeing a sudden tourism boom from countries whose citizens never had its sightseeing and shopping opportunities on their radar. EU officials say thousands of travelers who entered Serbia and other Western Balkan nations as tourists in recent months ended up seeking asylum in EU member countries. “We have seen a significant increase of migrants coming …

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Spain's PM offers support for North Macedonia's EU candidacy
2 years, 4 months ago

Spain's PM offers support for North Macedonia's EU candidacy

The Independent  

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EU starts membership talks with Albania, North Macedonia
2 years, 5 months ago

EU starts membership talks with Albania, North Macedonia

Associated Press  

BRUSSELS — The European Union started membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia on Tuesday, a long-delayed step in the Balkan nations’ paths toward EU membership that gained momentum amid the war in Ukraine. The result of your hard work,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Rama and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski of North Macedonia,. It was only …

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Western Balkan nations postpone school openings due to virus
3 years, 3 months ago

Western Balkan nations postpone school openings due to virus

Associated Press  

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo on Tuesday postponed the beginning of the school year for students up through high school by two weeks following a surge of coronavirus infections due to the delta variant, and new precautions were taken in other Western Balkan countries like Albania and Serbia. Perparim Kryeziu, the spokesman for the Kosovo government, told the Associated Press that …

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Kosovo, Serbia clash over Balkan border issues at summit
3 years, 7 months ago

Kosovo, Serbia clash over Balkan border issues at summit

Associated Press  

BRDO, Slovenia — Serbia and Kosovo clashed Monday at a summit of Western Balkan nations over state border changes, a thorny issue in a region that is still recuperating from bloody civil wars in the 1990s. However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rejected such a wording in the resolution because it would indirectly mean that Serbia recognizes the borders of its …

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How a WHO Push for Global Vaccines Needled Europe
3 years, 8 months ago

How a WHO Push for Global Vaccines Needled Europe

News 18  

Last April, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added Europe to a global effort to ensure equitable access to a vaccine, which she said would be deployed ”to every single corner of the world.” But despite pledging billions of dollars for the scheme set up by the World Health Organization and publicly …

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