An earthquake of at least 5.9 magnitude struck in the Mediterranean Sea off southern Greece on Wednesday and was felt as far away as Cairo in Egypt, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, officials said. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake struck at 0930 GMT, 170 km …

Albania’s ruling Democratic Party led their main left-wing rivals by four seats on Wednesday but do not yet have enough seats to form a government with 98 percent of votes counted from Sunday’s parliamentary election.

SOFIA Bulgaria does not need a bailout aid agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), local press reported Wednesday, citing the Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski. 

The governing centre-right party of Albania’s Prime Minister has claimed victory in elections held last weekend. With most results in, the Democrat party headed by PM Sali Berisha was narrowly ahead of its Socialist rivals, but possibly short of a majority. However, the Socialists accused their rivals of manipulating the …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Most suspended Serb police officers reported to duty on Tuesday (June 30th), the deadline set by Kosovo police. A total of 325 Serbs decided to return, ending their protest of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008. Only 18 failed to return. A EULEX statement said the …

TIRANA, Albania The outcome of Sunday’s (June 28th) parliamentary elections hinges on the results in the remaining 80 polling centres where votes have yet to be counted, media reported on Wednesday. According to the latest figures, the coalition led by the ruling Democratic Party won 70 seats, followed by the …

BRUSSELS, Belgium Turkey and the EU opened negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday (June 30th) on a new chapter — the one on taxation — as part of Ankara’s EU accession process. The taxation chapter is the eleventh opened so far. Turkey’s chief negotiator, Egemen Bagis, told a news conference that …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Ivica Bocevski resigned on Tuesday (June 30th), telling Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that he has done all he can. “Each generation has its own battle for Macedonia, and my generation had to fight for European and Euro-Atlantic Macedonia,” read a letter to …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said in a letter to The Hague war crimes tribunal on Tuesday (June 30th) that he is not guilty of the 11 counts in the indictment against him. Karadzic, who faces charges of genocide, murder and torture stemming from the …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Court of BiH on Tuesday (June 30th) sentenced a former member of the Serb military police to seven and a half years in prison for murdering and torturing non-Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 conflict. Earlier, defendant Rade Veselinovic pleaded guilty to murdering one civilian …