BULGARIA Customs and tax officials will be checking all goods entering or leaving Bulgaria to and from its two European Union neighbours Greece and Romania, Bulgarian-language Trud daily said on August 24 2009. Checks will cover all nine of Bulgaria’s border checkpoints with the EU. Since January 2007, when Bulgaria …

BULGARIA Bulgaria should take advantage in the best possible way of the opportunities to develop and participate in common European energy projects, Foreign Minister Rumyana Zheleva said at a press conference. Bulgaria is reviewing to what extent it can participate in the energy projects amid an economic crisis, she said …

BULGARIA Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Rumyana Zheleva presented her team. The Minister outlined positioning Bulgaria in the center of the European policy as a priority. This means to restore Bulgaria’s access to the European funds. The Ministry is also establishing a portfolio for European Integration and European Affairs. Developing …

Ahead of a planned official visit to Turkey, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has stressed common points between his country and Turkey, while declaring the other “a strategic partner” for his country. Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, speaking at a cabinet meeting held on Saturday, informed cabinet members of Berdymukhamedov’s upcoming …

RUSSIA Ukrainian troops fought alongside Georgian forces in the brief conflict last August between Georgia and Russia, Moscow prosecutors say. Regular soldiers, as well as 200 members of a Ukrainian nationalist group, took part in the fighting, the prosecutor general’s office said. The statement comes amid worsening relations between Moscow …

KIEV, Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko criticized domestic and foreign detractors on Monday and said Ukraine needed strong institutions to parry threats to its future prosperity. Yushchenko, whose standing is at rock bottom as he seeks re-election in January, was marking the 18th anniversary of independence from Soviet rule as Ukraine’s …

MACEDONIA Essential progress has been achieved in the Athens-Skopje UN talks over Macedonia’s official name, but a final resolution is still a long way off, Macedonia’s president says. Greece and Macedonia responded last week to the latest set of ideas on the naming dispute put forward by UN mediator Matthew …

BiH The Bosnian Serb political scene was shaken up over the weekend by the news that prominent former politician Dragan Kalinic may return to public life, after being given permission to do so by Bosnia’s High Representative Valentin Inzko. Kalinic may provide the biggest challenge yet to undisputed Bosnian Serb …

SERBIA An IMF mission arrives in Belgrade on Monday to review whether Serbia has met the requirements of a €2.92 billion IMF standby loan approved in April. The IMF delegation, headed by Albert Jaeger, is set to meet Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic and Labour and …

ROMANIA Fostul subsecretar de stat în MAE afirmă că despre un parcurs normal de aderare a Chişinăului la spaţiul comunitar s-ar putea vorbi, cel mai devreme, peste 20 de ani. Este România pregătită să-şi regândească relaţia cu Rusia? Dar Moscova este interesată de o dezgheţare a legăturilor cu Bucureştiul? În …