Balkans

Romania’s Democrat-Liberals, PD-L and the leftist Social Democrat Party, PSD, on Wednesday agreed on the distribution of 19 ministries in the future government. Both parties will have 9 ministries, each, while the future Justice Minister will be an independent, Prime Minister-designate Emil Boc said. The main ministries are split as …

Skopje – As part of the celebration marking 15 years since Macedonia established diplomatic relations with 13 European countries, the embassies of several nations are opening their doors to visitors. This will be a rare occasion for the Macedonians to catch a glimpse of the Norwegian, Swedish and the United …

Grain farmers from all over Bulgaria took part in protests amid concern that fraudulent practices by some farmers would cause the EU to cut further aid to Sofia. Hundreds of farmers took to the roads in tractors and other vehicles in the countryside near the southern town of Stara Zagora, …

The Bulgarian parliament has approved the government’s 2009 budget based on expected economic growth of 4.7 percent, a rate widely criticised as unrealistic amid the global economic slowdown. The budget plans a surplus of 3 percent of gross domestic product, but also raises social and capital spending which analysts have …

Bulgaria is not preventing an association of Macedonians in Bulgaria from registering as a political party but they instead are refusing to do so, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister claims. Sergey Stanishev was referring to the OMO Ilinden Pirin organisation and made the comments during an official visit to Macedonia in which …

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged on Tuesday to tackle corruption after 11 days of violence triggered by the police killing of a teenager and fueled by public anger at scandals and a slowing economy. About 100 youths attacked a police station in Athens, setting fire to …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Economic Minister Shamseddin Hosseini and Bosnian Minister of Foreign Trade Mladen Zirojevic in a meeting here in Tehran on Monday explored avenues to expand mutual trade and economic relations. Iran seeks ways to boost cooperation with Bosnia in various sectors like banking, foreign investment, privatization, etc., he …

osovo’s Interior Minister Zenun Pajaziti says Serb officers will return to Kosovo’s Police force now that the European Union law-and-order mission, EULEX, has deployed. Ethnic Serb police officers left their posts in protest against Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February of this year. However, Pajaziti believes that they will all …

“The European Union is not neutral on Kosovo as 22 member states have made clear their position on Kosovo,” argues Soren Jessen Petersen, the former chief of UN Mission in Kosovo. “It is clear that Kosovo is independent and this fact cannot be changed. Kosovo is in the phase of …

Enis Imamovic, the spokesman for the Bosniak Ticket for European Sandzak, says party leader and minister without portfolio, Sulejman Ugljanin is a man of his word and will provide pledged aid to his home town. He told a press conference that Ugljanin would focus all his assistance on improving the …