mircea

Bosnia Entities Trim Budgets to Ease IMF Loan

The parliaments of Bosnia’s two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, have rebalanced their budgets as a condition for a new stand-by arrangement with the IMF.After the House of Representatives in the Federation entity supported the entity government’s rebalanced 2012 budget on Thursday, Bosnia is awaiting …

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Kosovo Deports Serb Official For Changing Agenda

The Kosovo government deported the head of Serbia’s Kosovo Office, Aleksandar Vulin, for deviating from his agreed agenda.Kosovo deported the head of Serbia’s Kosovo Office, Aleksandar Vulin, on Friday, police said. Vulin, who was on a two-day visit to Kosovo, for which he was given “green light” by the authorities …

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Serb Patriarch Heads to Bosnia Peace Conference

Patriarch Irinej, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, will participate in the international peace conference in Sarajevo, seen as the most important recent religious summit in the region.The conference, entitled “Our future is living together – Religion and Culture in Dialogue”, is the first joint gathering of religious and state …

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Serbian Pledge To Uphold Free Media Welcomed

Serbia’s new government has promised to bring in fresh legislation guaranteeing freedom of the media as well as acting on the basis of the media strategy – the key stategy document adopted by the last government.Bratislav Petkovic, Serbia’s Culture and Information Minister, said that the government will adopt a package …

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Montenegro Indictees Deny Role In Deportation

Retrial of former policemen charged with deporting refugees from Montenegro to Bosnian Serbs in 1992 began on Thursday with the indictees pleading not guilty.The retrial is taking place after the acquittal of the nine police officers charged with war crime against civilians was overturned in March. Milisav Markovic, Milorad Ivanovic, …

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Albania Socialists Fall Into Line on Immunity Reform

Reversing his previous position, Socialist leader Edi Rama said his party will vote in favour of government plas to reform immunity laws – even though the government has refused to consider other reforms proposed by the opposition.Socialist leader Edi Rama said he will not stand in the way of reforms …

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Macedonian Army Law Reveals Ethnic Split Among MPs

A debate in parliament over a controversial law on armed forces exposed predictable divisions between ethnic Macedonians who support it and Albanians who oppose it.The law, put forward by the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, concerns the rights of members of the Macedonian armed forces who fought in the 2001 …

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EU: Serbia Does Not Have to Recognize Kosovo

Enlargement Commissioner repeats that Belgrade and Pristina must normalise ties – but Serbia’s diplomatic recognition of Kosovo is not crucial to its EU integration.The EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fuele, has denied that the European Union will inist on Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo before it can join the organization.

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