TURKEY Relations between hostile neighbours Turkey and Armenia have taken a turn for the better with the two countries’ agreeing to hold talks on establishing diplomatic ties. It was last year’s unprecedented meeting between their leaders in the Armenian capital which began the slow improvement after almost a century of …

MACEDONIA Greece has toughened its stance in the dispute over Macedonia’s official name, making it more likely to block its neighbour’s EU membership bid, Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said. Milososki’s comments came in an interview with Reuters on Monday, held on the sidelines of a regional security conference in …

MACEDONIA Lustration procedures, focusing on past security service ties, begin for all public officials in Macedonia on Tuesday, with prominent public office holders the first under the spotlight. Public office holders have until the end of September to submit a statement to the parliamentary Commission for the Verification of Facts, …

ALBANIA The CEO of Miami-based company AEY, who is suspected of conducting a shady munitions deal with Albanian authorities to ship Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghan army, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy in Florida. The dealer, 24-year-old Efraim E. Diveroli, who is often described as a weapons “genius”, admitted that …

BiH Bosnia’s top western envoy has urged Croatia, Slovenia and Turkey to provide further support to Bosnia’s bid for full NATO and EU membership. On Monday, Bosnia’s High Representative Valentin Inzko met Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic, Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, oin the …