- Kosovo, North Macedonia agree to streamline cross-border travel from Jan 2025
The interior ministers of Kosovo and North Macedonia during a joint meeting of the two governments in Pristina on November 11 signed a protocol on facilitating border crossing procedures by establishing a common border gate. The intergovernmental Protocol implements the Agreement on Joint Border Gates, regulating the procedure for inspections and customs control, the infrastructure of joint border gates, and synchronization of border management systems.
Albin Kurti noted that trade turnover between the two countries has increased in recent years, reaching over EUR 432 million in 2023, voicing expectations that bilateral economic cooperation would reach half a billion euros in 2025. “The increase in trade turnover between our countries is also reflected in the increased mobility of our citizens. Between January and November this year, almost 5 million border crossings were registered in both directions, a significant rise against 3.5 million seen in 2019,” Kurti said during a meeting with his North Macedonian counterpart, Hristijan Mickoski.
“I would be happy if within a few weeks we could see a single border gate instead of two, thus avoiding crowding at the border or any unpleasant experiences at the checkpoints,” Mickoski said. “We are striving for a Europe without borders,” he added.
In total, three documents were signed following the two governments’ meeting.
A Memorandum on Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources was also signed, which includes cooperation initiatives and infrastructure projects for gas connections. It includes the launch of cooperation to explore the possibility of developing a new direct gas flow between the two countries.
Another document sealed was the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the Ministries of Education and Science of North Macedonia and the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Kosovo, where the parties agree to work together to improve the quality of vocational education and training.
In developing relations with Pristina, the ruling coalition in Skopje led by VMRO-DPMNE confirms that it does not and will not question the recognition of Kosovo, but will pursue the policy of the previous government, the SDM.
- Vučić and Orbán signed a political declaration
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed a political declaration after the second meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council between the two countries, which took place in Budapest on November 14. Six more agreements on cooperation in various areas – justice, culture, European integration and diplomacy – were also signed.
“We are deepening these ties through bilateral agreements, but we are also addressing the problems we are struggling with together. Our ties are deepening – fundamentally, structurally, politically, economically and between our people,” the Serbian president emphasized.
The Hungarian prime minister noted that a new reality is taking shape in international politics and that Serbia and Hungary together have much better chances of finding good answers to new challenges than each of them separately. “We will respond to the new reality by deepening Serbian-Hungarian relations. Security must gain importance in the new reality. The European Union must realize that the EU needs Serbia more than Serbia needs the European Union,” Orbán emphasized.
The talks also touched on cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, Hungary’s support for Serbia on its European path, and military-technical cooperation.
Budapest continues to develop bilateral relations with Belgrade, thus strengthening its position as a regional actor pursuing a policy that does not always go in line with that of Brussels.
- Adherence to the EU foreign cannot be the main criterion for progress in the accession talks, says Várhelyi
Adherence to the European Union’s foreign cannot be the main criterion for progress in the accession talks, says European Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi, who represents Hungary. He made the statement while pitching his latest report to the European Parliament as Enlargement Commissioner.
Várhelyi said that Serbia needs to accelerate reforms, especially in the area of the rule of law. However, he stressed that the European Commission’s recommendation and assessment that Serbia has fulfilled the criteria for opening the next part, Cluster 3, in the negotiation process, are valid, and that the European Commission supports Serbia’s willingness to open more negotiation clusters.
“Aligning with the EU foreign policy and sanctions is important, but it cannot be the only criterion for progress. Serbia has sent concrete humanitarian, economic and military assistance to Ukraine, EUR 50 million in budget support and EUR 8.5 million in energy equipment,” Várhelyi noted, emphasizing that in this way “Serbia has demonstrated its European commitment”.
Serbia has not coordinated its foreign policy with the formal policy of the European Union and neither has it aligned with the EU sanctions against Russia. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the negotiation process (opening new chapters) has effectively stopped. It was assumed that during the current Hungarian presidency of the EU, thanks to the special relations between Belgrade and Budapest, Serbia would be able to continue accession talks.
- Serbia and Kazakhstan signed the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2025
The Ministers of Defense of Serbia Bratislav Gasic, together with the Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan Ruslan Zhaksilikov, and Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev, visited the Prva Petoletka Trstenik Namenska.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense signed the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2025.
Gasic stressed the importance of deepening cooperation between Serbia and Kazakhstan’s defense industries, which is of interest to both sides.
Gasic noted that defense cooperation between the two countries is “very good, with significant potential for further strengthening”.
He particularly emphasized that the two defense ministries exchanged proposals for possible cooperation for the short term and that the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2025 was signed as a result of the joint commitments.
- Croatian Health Minister was detained by USKOK
On the morning of November 15, Croatian Health Minister Vili Beroš was detained by the Office for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK).
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković immediately sacked Beroš.
The Office for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime suspects Croatian Health Minister Vili Beroš of “trading in influence.”
In addition to the minister, several high-ranking medics and company owners trading in medical equipment are targeted in the USKOK and European Prosecutor’s Office cases. The focus of the probe is the purchase of equipment for several Croatian hospitals at inflated prices. At the same time, the EU prosecutor’s office announced that it had also opened a case against Beros, adding that the latter was charged with bribery.
