Balkans

Macedonian and Greek authorities have condemned a graffiti attack on Greek tourist buses visiting Macedonia’s lake town of Ohrid at the weekend. The three buses carrying Greek tourists were parked in downtown Ohrid when they were spray-painted with slogans such as “United Macedonia”, “Alexander the Great” and some obscenities. The …

The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is “not good,” thanks to continued radical rhetoric among some local leaders and the country’s lack of progress towards EU membership, a senior US diplomat was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Stuart Jones, the deputy US Assistant Secretary in charge of the Balkans, on …

The EU’s law and justice mission in Kosovo, EULEX, postponed the first trial under its mandate on Monday due to a protest by Serb judicial workers opposed to the work of the mission which they see as supporting Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. The trial, against two Kosovo Serbs accused of …

The campaign for Macedonia’s March 22 presidential and local polls kicked off on Sunday, under the eye of the West which views the election as a test of the country’s democratic credentials . Among the seven men running for President, Georgi Ivanov from the main ruling VMRO-DPMNE party and Ljubomir …

The United States Ambassador to Tirana, John L. Withers, expressed his concern on Monday over the constant political attacks by the Albanian political class against the country’s justice system. An annual human rights report released last week by the US State department panned the Albanian government on the constant attacks …

Belarus’ president Aleksandar Lukasenko came with his family and staff to Serbia’s famous Kopaonik ski resort for his winter vacation. Local media reported that his presidential airplane landed at Nis airport on Sunday, and his party were escorted to Kopaonik mountain in central Serbia. Serbian media speculated that Lukashenko came …

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, warned Albania on Saturday it should be prudent in its spending ahead of its general election on June 28 or risk possible threats to its macroeconomic stability. In its final report on Albania-IMF relations, the Fund warned that “without its program support—which has served as …

Romanian authorities have started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in Washington over a loan aimed at protecting Romania’s slowing economy from the global financial crisis, local news agency NewsIn reports. Economic analysts have already warned Romania should be the next east European country after Hungary and Ukraine to ask …

Economists warn that Kosovo has accumulated 475 million euros that is sitting untouched and idle in the banks due to mismanagement of public money, while the Ministry of Economy and Finance says that amount is ‘funds for specific reasons’ and should not be spent unreasonably. According to Shpend Ahmeti, from …

BCHAREST, March 1 – The Kuwaiti Embassy in Romania celebrated the 48th and 18th anniversaries of Kuwait’s National Day and Liberation Day, with Ambassador Yaqoub Al-Ateqi attending. The reception was attended by several senior Romanian officials, party leaders, businessmen, and intellectuals, as well as a large number of Arab and …