Political deadlock and economic hardship appear to have steered Moldovans towards the opposition Communists in local elections on Sunday. Communist Igor Dodon is leading the mayoral race in the Moldovan capital Chisinau with around 52 percent of the vote, while incumbent mayor Dorin Chirtoaca holds 43 percent, according to

Albania’s Minister of Education announced in a meeting with his Kosovo counterpart on Friday that both countries would work on producing joint textbooks for first-graders. “We will soon have textbooks on the market for children abroad [outside Albania], based on a common programme,” the Albanian Education Minister, Myqerem Tafaj, said. …

Serbian President Boris Tadić will begin a two-day visit to Brussels on Monday by meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. His office said that Tadić is going to hold a lecture on Serbia’s EU integration at the European Policy Center on Tuesday.

U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick has stated that Washington “strongly supports Serbia in its EU integration”. She also stressed that the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština “is very important and expected to result in great progress in the coming months”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said he sees positive signs of a breakthrough in a dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, welcoming Azerbaijan’s “determined and optimistic” position on the conflict.

Ratko Mladic’s arrest has provided opportunities for a dialog, which should replace the bloodsheds in the Balkans, said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. “Mladic’s arrest is important because of two reasons. First of all, it is a message to all mass murderers that the world will not put up …

War crimes defendant Radovan Karadzic was bumped from his usual courtroom and his spot on closed-circuit television at the Hague tribunal on Friday by his former partner Ratko Mladic.

Wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic will appear again before a UN court on July 4, when he will be required to enter a plea to genocide and war crimes charges. He refused to enter a plea to genocide and war crimes charges in a UN court on Friday, …

The prospect of a second bailout for debt-stricken Greece assuaged market fears of default on Friday as the country’s prime minister flew to Luxembourg to present plans for deeper austerity measures.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili discussed the country’s further European integration at a meeting with Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council in Rome. The sides stressed the importance of cooperation within the Eastern Partnership.