Balkans

Over President Traian Basescu’s strong objections, the Liberal Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu has postponed European Parliament elections until the second half of this year. An “inappropriate domestic political climate” would hamper serious debate on European issues in the campaign to elect 35 Romanian MEPs, Tariceanu said, citing opposition attempts …

After years of reforms, the public is regaining their trust in banks and are no longer stuffing mattresses with their hard-earned money. The country’s banks currently hold about 3.2 billion euros in savings accounts. This is a 44.6 % increase in just one year, amounting to as much as 2.9 …

Citing the level of co-operation with Russia in the process of determining Kosovo’s final status so far, a senior US diplomat said on Monday (March 12th) that he does not expect Moscow to veto a Security Council resolution that would likely put the province on the path to independence. Russia …

Macedonia’s ruling coalition, DUI set basis for negotiation process  13/03/2007  SKOPJE, Macedonia — Representatives of Macedonia’s ruling coalition and largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), met on Monday (March 12th), in another step aimed at resuming long-stalled political dialogue. Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska described this first …

With Croatia set to hold general elections this year, polls show that the two main political parties — the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) and the Social Liberal Party (SDP) — are in a virtual dead heat. This time around, both parties are counting on professional consultants to help them maximise …

When UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari unveiled his status proposal on Friday (February 2nd), Belgrade found itself in a difficult position. In the wake of the January 21st general elections, Serbia effectively has neither a parliament nor government. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, saying he no longer has the …

US envoy Frank Wisner voiced confidence Tuesday (February 6th) that Serbia’s leaders will take part in the upcoming consultations on a UN proposal to resolve the Kosovo status issue.

BiH Constitutional Court annuls entity symbols 29/01/2007 SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — The BiH constitutional court decided on Saturday (January 27th) to deprive the two entities in BiH, Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation of BiH (FBiH), of their symbols because they failed to harmonise them with the constitution. …

BRUSSELS, Belgium — EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs implied on Thursday (January 25th) that Bulgaria should not try to reopen discussions on reactors 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear plant.

President Alfred Moisiu said on Thursday (November 30th) that he is through waiting for the various political parties to agree on electoral reform and will use his constitutional powers this Saturday to set the date for local elections himself. Sources suggest he will choose either January 20th or 21st.