Balkan News

CROATIA The Swedish Presidency over the EU welcomed today the agreement between Ljubljana and Zagreb for unblocking of the Croatian pre-accession talks, emphasizing that the Croatian entrance is of interest of the entire Union.

BALKANS Although the United States is not focused on the Balkans as it was in the 1990s, the challenges in this region are still reviewed at a very high level in Washington, a prominent US political expert said. John Stilides, a political strategist of the Republican Party and chairman of …

CROATIA Slovenia is set to unblock Croatia’s EU accession talks, while Zagreb is set to withdraw the disputed documents that prejudice the border between the two states. The major breakthrough in the negotiations emerged Friday at a meeting of Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor and Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor …

BULGARIA As a matter of fact Bulgaria has had very bad image in Brussels. It depends on us whether we will change it. It is important people to have hope and to give us a chance to do it, said Prime Minister (PM) Boyko Borisov in an interview with Radio …

BULGARIA Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov has announced that the construction of Belene Nuclear Power Plant will cost around EUR 10 billion (USD 14.6 billion), local media reported on Saturday. Traikov gave the example of Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP),stating that the same installations would be made …

BULGARIA Bulgarian officials on Friday hailed an EU decision to release millions of euros in farming aid to Sofia that had been frozen since last year over fraud concerns, AFP commented. On Thursday, the European Commission authorised payments of 109.6 million euros (160 million dollars), blocked since last July, under …

MACEDONIA Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov assumed a calmer tone after his first statement about the tragedy in Ohrid, Macedonian Dnevnik daily writes on Friday. “We have wonderful relations with your prime minster. Yesterday, your foreign minister, together his Bulgarian counterpart, attended the ceremony of paying last respect to the …

GREECE There is 5.5% distance between the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and the ruling New Democracy. According to the polls, organized on September 7-8 among 1,001 people, PASOK wins 41% support, while the New Democracy – 35.5%, which guarantees a majority of 151 MPs for the socialist party, while the …

RUSSIA Russia and Bulgaria have never had secret agreements on the energy projects, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said. “If legitimate decisions passed by the previous government are rejected every time, then how can we possibly work with this country! All projects have been openly discussed in Europe. We passed …

GREECE Greek socialist leader George Papandreou attacked the ruling cabinet over the three-way intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandoupolis oil pipeline. According to Papandreou, the agreement services only the interests of the Russian part and made it clear that it is possible to renegotiate the contract conditions if …