RUSSIA Russia has accused Kyiv of attempting to seize property belonging to its Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, in a further sign of escalating tension between the ex-Soviet neighbors. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet said it had barred Ukrainian court bailiffs as they tried to seize navigation equipment on August 27 …

TURKEY U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler has met with Turkish officials to discuss all aspects of bilateral ties, regional developments and Turkey’s European Union bid. Wexler held meetings with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin late Wednesday and met with Foreign Minister Ahmet …

GREECE NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen will visit Athens for talks with Greek officials. NATO chief will meet Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and Defense Minister Evangalos Meimarakis. Details will be announced at the press conference, which will be hold by Karamanlis and Rasmunssen. …

ALBANIA Albania is the only country that didn’t feel the impact of global economic crisis, the country’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha said. In his address to the Committee on National Strategy Planning, Berisha stressed that there have been pay cuts in all countries except for Albania, where salaries surged significantly, …

TURKEY Turkey’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Turkey and Romania, the two most important countries in Black Sea region, were determined to turn the region into one of the most powerful and developed economic basins in the world. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu …

ROMANIA Romania’s National Defense Minister Mihai Stanisoara stressed on Wednesday that his ministry is in no way involved in the contracts of the deliberation of ammunition. Stanisoara was referring to an operation for the neutralization and safe disposal of the military ammunition that has become unusable and dangerous.

BULGARIA Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, whose Cabinet took office on July 27 2009, finds himself a month later with a 64 per cent approval rating and his party GERB with an even stronger lead over the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) than at the July national parliamentary elections. This emerges …

BULGARIA Bulgarian Minister without portfolio Bozhidar Dimitrov will not visit Macedonia today, Macedonian Dnevnik newspaper writes. Instead of coming to the town of Prilep, where he was supposed to attend the inauguration of the restored Bulgarian-German cemetery, Dimitrov will go to a festival of arts in Bulgarian coastal town of …

BULGARIA Bulgaria is ready to buy 2.5 m2 of natural gas from Turkmenistan, said Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov after official ceremony on signing three documents between Bulgaria and Turkmenistan. Bulgarian head of state said this is an expression of gratitude towards Turkmenistan over the assessment Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow gave …

RUSSIA Russia has vowed to defend the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a year after acknowledging their independence from Georgia. On Wednesday, people celebrated public holidays in the separatist regions to mark the anniversary. The event coincided with the opening of 160Km natural gas pipeline linking Russia directly …