Balkans

04 November 2008 Podgorica – Montenegro police are denying reports that those who ordered the murder of high-profile Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanic and his marketing chief, Niko Franjic are Montenegrin nationals.

04 November 2008 Zagreb – Croatian police and their colleagues from Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity are trading accusations over who’s to blame for the narrow escape of a key suspect wanted over the murder of a high-profile journalist.

04 November 2008 Pristina – A Kosovo lawmaker has accused the UN Mission of preventing ethnic Albanians from returning to their homes in the Serb-dominated northern areas of Kosovo.

04 November 2008 Tirana – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha held a two hour long marathon speech on Monday in parliament in a hearing over his ties to Bosnian businessman, Damir Fazlic.

04 November 2008 Presevo – Milan Markovic, the chairman of the Coordination Body for Southern Serbia, has called on ethnic Albanian leaders to re-enter reconciliation talks after claiming a key condition had been met.

04 November 2008 Pristina – Kosovo’s first independently-compiled budget for 2009 will be €1.43 billion, an increase of 15 percent on 2008.

04 November 2008 Pristina – Former UN envoy for Kosovo’s final status and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisaari, stands by his decision in backing Kosovo’s independence, in his new autobiography.

04 November 2008 Belgrade – Three Serbian nationalist parties including that of former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica say they are ready to create a new alliance to challenge the current coalition government.

Belgrade – Serbia will offer incentives to foreign investors including low taxes and subsidies, with an aim of boosting the economy, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said Monday.

Sofia – Three Bulgarian political parties, the LIDER Party, the nationalist VMRO, and the Agrarian People’s Union, have united to form a new centre-right coalition called “Napred” (“Forward”).