Balkans

Montenegro did not strengthen civil liberties during 2006, and democracy in the country deteriorated slightly, according to the latest report by Freedom House. In particular, the NGO cited a sluggish fight against corruption, excessive government influence on state television, and public mistrust of the judicial system.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to boost relations with Libya as he met with the country’s leader Muammar Qadhafi on Wednesday as a reward for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor.

A fourth session of the Macedonia-EU Stabilisation and Association Council takes place in Brussels on Tuesday (July 24th).

The election of a new president in Albania late last week shows consensus is possible there, Cristina Gallach, EU security chief Javier Solana’s spokeswoman, said on Monday (July 23rd).

The Romanian government declared a Code Red emergency late Monday (July 23rd) after three more people died of heat-related causes, for a total of 18. Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said the state of emergency will be enforced in five southern districts and in Bucharest.

EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday (July 23rd) to strengthen the Union’s role in efforts to determine the final status of Kosovo.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with members of Kosovo’s negotiating team — the Unity Group — on Monday (July 23rd), and urged Kosovo leaders to continue talks on final status with Belgrade, rather than declaring independence unilaterally.

Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who faced the death penalty in Libya until last week, were pardoned by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov on Tuesday (July 24th), less than an hour after they landed in Sofia.

Six foreign medics sentenced to death then life imprisonment in Libya in a controversial AIDS case were free in the Bulgarian capital Tuesday after the EU struck a multi-million-dollar financial and trade deal with Tripoli.

Six foreign medics convicted of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV were freed on Tuesday after a partnership deal between Tripoli and the European Union ended their eight-year ordeal.