NKARA, Turkey Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called on Turkish authorities on Monday (July 6th) to re-open the Greek Orthodox Seminary on the island of Heybeliada (Halki in Greek), in a bid to strengthen religious freedoms and minority rights. His comment followed talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey.

TIRANA, Albania The High Court in Tirana on Monday (July 6th) again postponed the trial of former Defence Minister Fatmir Mediu who faces charges of abuse of power. Mediu’s lawyers failed to appear in court, blaming the temporary closure of a tunnel along the Durres-Kukes Highway. Prosecutors say the tunnel …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Officials in Pristina on Monday (July 6th) welcomed the European Commission (EC) decision that visa liberalisation should apply only to citizens with exact addresses within Serbia, and not citizens living on Kosovo’s territory. Therefore, Kosovo residents holding Serbian biometric passports will not benefit from Serbia’s visa liberalisation with …

SKOPJE, Macedonia The UN mediator in the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, Matthew Nimetz, arrived on a two-day visit to Skopje on Monday (July 6th) and met with Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. Joining them was Macedonia’s representative in the name talks, Zoran Jolevski.

PRISTINA, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci announced on Monday (July 6th) that the government has allocated 300,000 euros for reconstruction of houses belonging to all communities in Mitrovica. He described the return of citizens to their property as a legitimate right of everyone and said rebuilding homes has created a …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of BiH’s tripartite presidency, took over the chairmanship of the institution Monday (July 6th) based on the usual rotation. His term will last eight months. His predecessor was the Serb member of the presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic.

President Barack Obama courted the anger of his Russian hosts by defending Georgia’s right to join Nato and criticising the Kremlin for seeking to dominate its neighbours. He mounted a robust defence of Georgian and Urkainian sovereignty when he delivered the third major foreign policy speech of his presidency at …

On August 4-12, 2009, Dialogue for Action: Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue and Retreat Program will be held in the Georgia, on the initiative of Imagine Program for Conflict Transformation.

Sarajevo -Around 2,500 people began a three day Peace March on Wednesday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre. The 111 kilometre long march will end on Saturday at the Memorial Park Potocari near Srebrenica where some 8,000 people were murdered by Bosnian Serb troops in 1995. The march …

BUCHAREST, Romania Romania’s president said Tuesday he hopes pro-Romanian opposition forces will prevail in Moldovan elections. Traian Basescu said in a meeting with foreign journalists that he wants the “democratic forces, the opposition to the current government to have better results after the election.”