Balkan News

Croatia’s Economy Sees Surprise Growth

Croatia’s economy posted a surprising mild rise in the last quarter, data showed on Friday, but analysts said there was no doubt it was poised for a serious downturn this year. Analysts had expected a first contraction since 1999 but the state statistics office reported a year-on-year quarterly rise of …

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Macedonia’s Key Interest Rate Rises

Macedonia’s National Bank, NBM has raised its benchmark interest rate by two percent in order to preserve the stability of the local currency, the Denar. The NBM’s head Petar Gosev announced this at a press conference in Skopje on Thursday. He informed that at the next auction, the NBM’s bonds …

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Bosnia Aims to Apply for EU By End of Year

`Bosnia wants to become a candidate for the European Union by the end of the year,` said Sven Alkalaj. Bosnia hopes to become a candidate for European Union membership in November or December despite outside concern the Balkan country is not politically or economically ready, the foreign minister said on …

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Bulgaria To Free 200-300 Prisoners Early

The Socialist-led government initially planned an early release of about 3,000 inmates with light sentences. Bulgaria’s parliament passed an amnesty law on Thursday but cut the number of offenders that the bill initially aimed to free to avoid public outrage before elections. The Socialist-led government initially planned an early release …

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Bosnian Serb Mayor Seeks To Reinvent Infamous Town

Practical and energetic, he is the type of leader Western diplomats and analysts are counting on to overcome animosities from the war. Serb mayor Zdravko Krsmanovic is trying to turn the eastern Bosnian town of Foca, best known for wartime atrocities and harbouring war crimes fugitives, into a centre for …

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Serbian, Bosnian Ministers Want Army Cooperation

During his visit to Bosnia Herzegovina, Sutanovac said that the past cannot be forgotten, but more can be done for a better future. The defence ministers of Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina, Dragan Sutanovac and Selmo Cikotic, announced on Wednesday in Sarajevo the possibility of strengthening the cooperation of the two …

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SDP files no-confidence motion against FBiH cabinet

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – The Social Democratic Party (SDP) filed a no-confidence motion against the cabinet of the Federation of BiH (FBiH) on Wednesday (March 25th), citing the aggravated economic situation as a cause for the motion. Several smaller parties are expected to support the proposal. The Dnevni …

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