Balkans

Serbia Breaks Balkan Ranks on Palestine Vote

Serbia was the only country in the region to support Palestine’s bid for upgraded observer status in the UN on Thursday’s vote.Serbia was the only Balkan country to support Palestine’s successful bid on Thursday for non-member observer status in the UN. Member states voted 138-9 in favour of the vote, …

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Reclusive North Korea Salutes Albanian Birthday

Noting the 100th anniversary of Albania’s independence, Kim Yong Nam, reclusive leader of North Korea, sent greetings to President Bujar Nishani on Wednesday.“Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, Wednesday sent a message of greeting to Albanian President Bujar Nishani on the occasion of …

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Bulgaria Sets Terms For Aiding Macedonia’s EU Bid

Sofia has urged its neighbour to take three clear steps if it wants to secure Bulgarian support for Macedonia’s EU integration process.Bulgaria has set its neighbour three conditions in return for its support in aiding Macedonian integration into the European Union. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov sent a letter to …

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Macedonia Hopeful After Haradinaj’s Acquittal

Many Macedonians hope that Johan Tarculovski, the only Macedonian national convicted for war crimes by the Hague Tribunal, could soon be released following the recent acquittals of Kosovo’s Ramush Haradinaj and Croatia’s Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.“Free Johan immediately!”, “Only our Johan remains to rot in jail”, and “End the …

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Balkan States Cool on Palestine’s UN Bid

Most Balkan countries appeared likely to abstain from Thursday’s vote on upgrading Palestine’s status, which looked set to pass the General Assembly easily.Most Balkan countries looked set to abstain from Thursday’s vote on Palestine’s request for upgraded observer status at the United Nations. The General Assembly appeared likely to endorse …

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Romanian Online Shopper Sold for $80m

Naspers has expanded its online holdings by purchasing Romania’s main online retailer.The South African-based media conglomerate Naspers has paid 80 million US dollars for a majority stake in the Romanian site emag.ro, media reported. This is one of the largest transactions in the Romanian online sector so far. Emag.ro was …

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Bulgaria to Stress Innovation Investments in 2014-2020 Programming Period

In the next 2014-2020 programming period, Bulgaria will allocate the main portion of funds under Operational Program Competitiveness to innovations and energy efficiency, according to Delyan Dobrev, Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism. Speaking Thursday during an international forum on industry and innovations, he argued that these sustainable solutions would …

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Hague Tribunal Acquits Kosovo’s Haradinaj

The Hague Tribunal, ICTY, has passed non-guilty verdict in the retrial of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two more ex Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, commanders.Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of Kosovo, and his two co-defendants, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, are acquitted of all charges of committing war crimes …

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Cleric’s Call for United Albania Upsets Macedonia

Albanians will one day live in united state, as that is God’s will, the head of Macedonia’s Islamic Religious Community, IVZ, Sulejman Rexhepi, has told an interviewer.Macedonian leaders have condemned the the country’s leading Muslim cleric for calling for a pan-Albanian state. Speaking to an Albanian-language newspaper, Zhurnal Plus, Rexhepi …

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