Balkans

Romania’s Finance Minister says Romani will probably soon start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund or the European Union for a grant aimed at protecting its slowing economy from the global financial crisis. “It is better to avoid a crisis, than to face it. And no loan is too expensive …

he economies of Bulgaria and Romania are much more vulnerable to the effects of the global financial crisis compared to those of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. This becomes clear from a report of the financial analysis agency, Standard & Poor’s, cited by the Financial Times. Standard & Poor’s …

Serbia’s secret services are discovering more details about top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic every day, with the latest information suggesting he spent a two-week holiday on the Montenegrin coast in 1997 but was stingy and ungracious with his guards and staff. With Mladic’s arrest a condition for Serbia’s European …

The European Union will probably in March unfreeze a trade agreement with Serbia and ratify the pre-accession Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Luxemburg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said on Wednesday in an interview. Serbia signed the SAA in April 2008, but there has been no consensus in the EU on its …

Kosovo’s former Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, said he was willing to be the mediator for peace talks in Uganda between the government in Kampala and the Muslim Allied Democratic Forces rebels. The Allied Democratic Forces, ADF, said they wanted Haradinaj, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army acquitted last …

During a visit to the University of Arizona, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu was given its award for “Distinguished Global Leadership” for people who promote international and intercultural cooperation. In his speech, Sejdiu thanked the United States for its “eternal support” toward Kosovo and took care to thank separately all US …

One man was wounded in Novi Pazar overnight on Monday in a shoot-out between two men supporting rival political and religious factions in the local Bosniak community. Police arrested a 38-year old man on suspicion that he attempted to murder 27-year old Nermin Ademovic, who suffered injuries in the stomach, …

The refusal of managers at Belgrade’s Sava Centar congress hall to allow a venue booking by a Serbian gay rights group has sparked a debate on the marginalisation of sexual minorities in the country, with Serbia’s Human Rights Ministry saying the Sava Center management should resign or be dismissed for …

Serbia was second only to the United States in terms of arms exports to Israel between 2004 and 2007, according to an Amnesty International briefing document. The document states that, according to UN figures, the U.S. supplied Israel with $1.3 billion worth of arms in the 2004-07 period while the …

The protection of property rights still remains a challenge for Macedonia and most of the Balkans, the 2009 rankings on the International Property Rights Index shows. The Index incorporates 10 variables, divided into three main components: legal and political environment, physical property rights and intellectual property rights.