SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – The issuing of biometric passports will begin on December 31st, BiH’s Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange announced on Monday (March 30th). A German company won the bid for providing the passports and signed a contract with the government last month. The …

MADRID, Spain – A Spanish court has released on bail Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from Turkey’s disbanded Democracy Party and suspected former commander of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkish media reported on Monday (March 30th).

LONDON, the United Kingdom – The international human rights watchdog Amnesty International accused Greek police of using excessive force and violating the rights of demonstrators in a report released on Monday (March 30th).

TIRANA, Albania – Running democratic elections that comply with international standards will be the best way for Albania to divide its historic and political past from the future, President Bamir Topi said on Monday (March 30th).

The Serbian government has done its utmost to enact necessary laws for Serbia to accede to the Schengen “white list” by the end of 2009, says the European Integration Office. European Integration Office Director Milica Delevic told B92 that a special migration management strategy and three action plans were required …

Opinion polls in Macedonia suggest that Georgi Ivanov of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE will defeat his rival, Ljubomir Frckovski, in the country’s April 5 presidential elections. A poll by the Democratic Institute found that 25 percent of voters would support Ivanov while 15 percent would vote for Frckoski. The poll also …

Montenegro Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has said that relations between Serbia and Montenegro are not satisfactory, but that there is scope for improving them. He told B92 he was ready to work on establishing a quality relationship, provided Belgrade displayed the same willingness. Djukanovic said cooperation between Serbia and Montenegro …

The European Commission as rejected a request by Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev to send European officials and diplomats to help the country’s state administration in its handling of EU funds. In a letter, obtained by the Dnevnik newspaper, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told Stanishev that the new …

Deputies in Serbia’s Parliament will meet for the first time today in their new chamber, the renovated Hall of the National Parliament in Nikola Pasic Square. The chamber has been restored to its 1936 appearance. President of Parliament Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said deputies would first take part in a series of …

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic told a B92 TV talk show last night that a new solidarity tax which has caused public uproar could be introduced but is “only one of the measures considered”. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, in the presence of International Monetary Fund representatives, announced that the government had …