Yearly Archives: 2009

Moldovan Leader Elected Parliament Speaker

Outgoing Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin won election on Tuesday as speaker of parliament, which could enable him to retain his hold on power. Voronin, in power since 2001, could not run for a third presidential term. Addressing the chamber, he called for reconciliation with opposition parties after the victory of …

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Slovene President: Rehn’s Proposal Needs Balancing

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor and President Danilo Tuerk on Monday advocated the “balancing” of EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn’s proposal about solving the border dispute with Croatia. They announced changes to the text of the agreement the Croatian parliament had already adopted last week. – If an agreement on …

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Djelic: economic crisis won’t stall Serbia’s EU bid

BELGRADE, Serbia The economic crisis will not affect Serbia’s EU accession process, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic said on Saturday (May 9th). While acknowledging that the financial crisis has an impact, he noted that several EU officials — including Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn — have made clear …

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Greek MP resigns over probe

ATHENS, Greece Former Transport Minister Christos Verelis resigned on Friday (May 8th) as a parliament member representing the main opposition party PASOK, media reported. The catalyst was the launch of a corruption investigation into the purchase of 140 trolley buses in 2001, when he was transport minister. The Athens-Piraeus Electric …

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Romania’s Antonescu, Tudor join presidential race

BUCHAREST, Romania The National Liberal Party on Saturday (May 9th) tapped leader Crin Antonescu as its candidate in the autumn presidential elections. The official announcement will come later. Separately on Saturday, Greater Romania Party head Corneliu Vadim Tudor announced his candidacy for president. Incumbent President Traian Basescu and ruling Social …

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Albania’s Topi calls for independent judicial system

TIRANA, Albania Politics should remain separate from the judicial system, while justice means treating all citizens equally and fairly, President Bamir Topi said on Sunday (May 10th). He was hosting an event marking the 96th anniversary of the establishment of the Albanian justice system. Topi thanked judges, prosecutors and the …

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NATO exercise kicks off in Georgia

Georgian Defense Minister David Sikharulidze attended the opening ceremony of NATO exercise which kicked off in Viziani base on May 11. Before the ceremony, NATO representatives said they the Alliance will not sever relations with Russia, although its position is not understandable, Civil.ge reported. The exercise will last till June …

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Serbs Reach Deal to End Kosovo Violence

Serbs have ended weeks of protests in northern Kosovo after reaching an agreement with the UN Mission to the country, UNMIK, Serbian media report. According to Tanjug news agency, Serbs in the north of the divided town of Mitrovica stated that they reached an agreement with the international community representatives …

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