Countries from Central Europe and the Balkans should do more in order be better prepared for a otential gas crisis and should find ways to reduce their dependency on Russian supplies, officials and businesspeople said during a Central European Initiative, CEI, meeting held in Bucharest. “The debate over energy security …

Russia and Georgia have agreed to hold a new round of talks on January 28 next year, aimed at reducing tensions following their five-day war in August 2008. Representatives of the two sides met for the eight time in Geneva on Wednesday for what a European Union mediator described as …

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has suggested a softening in the Dutch position regarding Serbia’s cooperation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal. Speaking at a debate on EU enlargement in the Dutch parliament, Verhagen said Serbia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, showed that: “Upward …

Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina must catch up on the reforms needed to qualify for a short-stay visa waiver like those of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, said MEPs on Thursday. The European Commission should report on the two countries’ progress early in 2010, and also …

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, could delay the release of the second installment of its stand-by deal with Bosnia, an official said. “I have a feeling that the second installment will be postponed,’’ Mustafa Mujezinovic, the prime minister of Bosnia’s Croat-Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) entity told journalists.

EU countries have agreed to proceed with Albania’s application for membership of the European Union, a first step in a long process towards possible membership of the bloc, EU diplomats said. Ambassadors from the 27 EU states decided at a meeting in Brussels to ask the European Commission to prepare …

Gentiana Serbu was assigned general consult, head of the General Consulate of Romania to Cahul, a recently inaugurated consulate through the decree of the Romanian president. Dumitru-Nicanor Teculescu was assigned general consul, head of the General Consulate of Romania to Balti.

Blocking Turkey’s progress toward European Union entry at a key December summit would not be in the interests of Greek Cyprus, according to the Greek Cypriot foreign minister. “As the situation stands today, we deem it would not be in our interest to halt Turkey’s accession process,” Greek Cypriot Foreign …

The Bulgarian government Wednesday formally put forward Foreign Minister Rumiana Jeleva to be the country’s new EU Commissioner. 

A former Bosnian Serb army general has lost his appeal against a conviction for war crimes committed during the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.