NATO parliamentarians express satisfaction that Croatia will soon become a member of NATO. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader hosted a delegation from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, headed by Assen Agov, president of the sub-committee for transatlantic relations and vice-president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO-PA). The members of the NATO-PA …
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Western Powers Debate Bosnia’s Future
Representatives from the EU, the US, and Russia among others are meeting in Sarajevo, where they are expected to debate the international community’s future role in Bosnia and Herzegovina and confirm the country’s new top international envoy. The conference of the Peace Implementation Council started in the Bosnian capital on …
Read More »Croatian Unions Threaten Lawsuits
Public service unions are likely to file a lawsuit challenging a decision by the Croatian government to adopt a law that will reduce the base salary for 180,000 public service employees by six percent. Instead of cancelling collective contracts with employees, the cabinet has decided to introduce a law that …
Read More »Bank of Albania Alarmed Over Govt Expenditure
Albania’s central bank warned the government on Wednesday against increasing budget expenditure, as this could put the macroeconomic stability of the country at risk. The central bank called for a tighter fiscal policy saying the government has no room to offer further fiscal stimulus. “This is the maximum that the …
Read More »IMF Conditions New Serbia Loan
The chief of the International Monetary Fund’s mission in Serbia Albert Jagger confirmed today at a press conference that the IMF will approve the loan arrangement with Serbia, but said the Serbian goverment must fulfill some conditions first. “These conditions are: rebalancing the budget, changes in tax regulations, and getting …
Read More »Montenegrins Protest Over Factory Closure
About 2,000 workers in Montenegro protested Wednesday over the possible closure of a factory owned by embattled Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, the Associated Press reported. The workers at aluminum maker KAP, the biggest Montenegrin exporter, defied a police ban and gathered in front of government headquarters to put pressure on …
Read More »Romanian Railway Workers Protest
Around 1,000 employees of Romania’s state-run railway company, CFR, have started a protest in Bucharest’s main railway station following government plans to scrap around 12,000 jobs this year. “Until now, our negotiations with the government have failed, but we still hope a solution will be found in order to save …
Read More »Slovenia`s Constitutional Court Drops SSN Request
Slovenia`s Constitutional court has rejected the request of the SSN party for temporary cease raising signatures for a referendum. Slovenia`s Constitutional court has rejected the request of the Slovene People`s Party (SSN) to temporarily cease raising signatures for a referendum on Croatian NATO membership until the court passes a decision …
Read More »Turkey Slowly Erasing `Black Mark` Coup Legacy
Today, Kenan Evren, the leader of a 1980 military coup is falling from grace as are other coup-era generals in Turkey. For decades, he was the embodiment of a Turkish “pasha” general, one of those stern custodians of the republic’s secular principles, always ready to step in to salvage the …
Read More »Slovak PM Says Hungary Rightists Plan Trouble
Prime Minister Robert Fico called an extraordinary meeting of his Security Council to prepare measures to counter `export of extremism.` Slovakia accused a far-right Hungarian movement on Tuesday of recruiting ethnic Hungarians in southern Slovakia to stir up trouble and distract attention from Hungary’s own economic problems. Prime Minister Robert …
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