MOLDOVA The leaders of the parliamentary majority Alliance for European Integration believe the probability for Moldova to have a new early parliamentary election [in early 2010] is currently estimated at fifty-fifty. On Friday, the leaderships of the AEI constituent forces – the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Democratic …

TURKEY Turkey’s foreign minister has urged his European Union counterparts to speed up the process of his country’s EU membership bid and not let the Cyprus issue stall negotiations. In an opinion piece in Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Ahmet Davutoğlu said his country has started an “unparalleled reform” process to …

SERBIA Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić has ordered a probe after the media reported that Montenegro’s candidate for ambassador to Serbia was “unwelcome”. The “urgent investigation” will include “everyone”: from his cabinet chief to the ministry’s human resources clerks, Belgrade daily Večenje Novosti writes. But the ministry officials were not available …

KOSOVO Sweden has criticized the Kosovo government because of the ethnic Albanian leaders’ opposition to a planned protocol between EULEX and Belgrade. Such behavior, a spokeswoman for the Swedish foreign ministry was quoted as saying, “is not in the spirit of Kosovo’s European aspirations”. Cecilia Julin also said that EU …

MACEDONIA The Minister of Transport and Communication Mile Janakievski resigned due to moral reasons. The Minister’s resignation is due to today’s boat accident at Ohrid Lake and according to latest information the number of victims is 22. Janakievski’s resignation was expected. According to government sources,his resignation won’t be accepted, due …

RUSSIA President Dmitry Medvedev has had a regular meeting with the Russian Security Council’s permanent members, the Kremlin press service said on Friday. Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Head of the Kremlin Administration Sergei Naryshkin, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, …

RUSSIA NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wishes to develop strategic partnership with Russia. It is necessary to develop strategic partnership with Moscow, Rasmussen said in an interview published by the Friday issue of the newspaper Le Monde. In his opinion, NATO and Russia face similar threats.

GEORGIA Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met visiting Foreign Minister of Georgia Grigol Vashadze. The two men discussed bilateral relations, specifically the tariffs for cargo transportation through Georgia and the upcoming meeting of the intergovernmental commission. Appreciating highly the centuries-old friendship between the nations, they also referred to the problems of …

GEORGIA Visiting Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze met Friday with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. “Armenia welcomes contacts which underlie further development of mutually beneficial relations,” Minister Nalbandian said. The two men discussed Gyumri-Akhalthikhe-Bavra-Batumi highway construction, process of delimitation of the Armenian-Georgian border and energy cooperation. They also signed a …

GEORGIA Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will travel to Georgia on September 7-8 on an official trip, Anadolu news agency reported. In a press release issued on Friday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that Davutoglu would be in Georgia upon an invitation by his Georgian counterpart Grigol …