Regional governors along the Georgia-Turkey border discussed cooperation in Akhaltsikhe this week. Georgian Governor Lasha Chkadua met with neighboring Turkish border region Ardahan Governor Mustafa Tekmen and the governor of the Georgian Samtskhe Dzhvakheti region.

The US will not compel Bulgarians to be choosing between Moscow and Washington, said in his first public lecture HE James Warlick, US Ambassador to Bulgaria.

The OSCE mission in Albania and the US Embassy in Tirana welcomed President Bamir Topi’s initiative to organise negotiations between the government and the opposition in order to end an ongoing political stalemate. The opposition has been boycotting parliament since September, insisting on a thorough investigation into the June 2009 …

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule will visit Macedonia on February 19th, Macedonia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday. Commissioner Fule will meet with Macedonia’s Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integration Vasko Naumovski, and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. The newly-appointed EU enlargement chief took up his …

UN Special envoy on the name dispute between Athens and Skopje, Matthew Nimetz, will visit Greece in the last 10 days of February. Greek Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Grigoris Delavekouras stressed on Athens’ wish to find solution to the issue, which goes with the precondition for the other party in the …

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, will pay a visit to Belgrade on February 18. Ashton took up the post from Javier Solana in December 2009 and officially stepped in office as First Vice President of the European Commission on February 9, 2010.

Croatia is ready to step up efforts to cooperate with the ICTY in order to be able to conclude EU accesson negotiations by the end of this year. Jadranka Kosor, the Croatian prime minister, said that efforts would be made to achieve better cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for …

“We want to bring Moldova closer to the European Union and support it on this path”. Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Michael Spindelegger said this in a meeting with Moldovan Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca in Vienna on February 9, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting Moldovan Foreign Ministry’s press …

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger hopes for soon ratification of Stabilization and Association Agreement between Serbia and EU and start of accession talks by 2014 the latest. In his interview for Belgrade daily “Blic” he said that it’s not real all Western Balkan countries to join EU by 2014.

EU Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg kicks off his visit to Kosovo on Thursday. Commissioner Hammarberg will observe the situation of minorities in Kosovo, among which Serbs and Gorans. UN statistics said that last year a total of 2500 refugees returned to Kosovo. Among them were Roma people, who …