Balkans

Serbia Pledges to Cut Budget Deficit

Belgrade has acted to restore IMF confidence by adopting a draft budget review and a package of anti-crisis measures.Serbia’s Socialist-led government has adopted a 2012 draft budget review and 12 laws regulating public finance, designed to avert financial collapse. The measures aim to reduce Serbia’s consolidated budget deficit from 7.1 …

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Wife Tried to Dissuade US Embassy Gunman

The US embassy attacker, Mevlid Jasarevic, was removed from court for showing disrespect while his wife’s statement was read out; in it, she recalled her attempts to disssuade him from going to Sarajevo.The statement of Mirela Demirovic, Jasarevic’s unmarried wife, previously given to investigators, was read out at the trial …

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France, EU, Seek Action on Roma from Romania

A French minister is flying to Romania to try and get Bucharest to address the problem of Romanian Roma now living illegally in France.The French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, and the Minister for European Affairs, Bernard Cazeneuve, are to come to Romania on Wednesday to discuss the sensitive situation of …

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Era of Supervised Independence Ends in Kosovo

As the period of international supervision of Kosovo’s independence draws to a close, Prime Minister Thaci hails a milestone in the country’s history and promises a new deal for disaffected Serbs in the north.After 13 years of international oversight, Kosovo formally obtained full independence on Monday when Western Powers terminated …

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Sarajevo Hosts International Peace Conference

Sarajevo is hosting hundreds of religious, political and cultural leaders from more than 60 countries as part of the International Gathering for Peace.The event, organised by the Christian Community of Sant’Egidio from Italy, was held with the help of Islamic, Catholic and Jewish communities in Bosnia and the Orthodox Church …

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Brussels: Montenegro to Follow Croatia into EU

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said Montenegro is likely to become the EU’s 29th member.Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, has told Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic that the small Adriatic country is likely to become the next EU member state after Croatia joins in …

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Serbian Democrats to Choose New Leader in November

After a heated debate on the party’s future, Serbia’s former ruling Democrats agreed to vote on the new leadership on November 10.Members of the main board of the Democratic Party on Saturday agreed to a proposal of their leader, Boris Tadic, to elect a new party leadership on November 10. …

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Kosovo Extends EU Mission Mandate to 2014

Parliament on Friday voted overwhelmingly to extend the mandate of the EU’s rule of law mission for another two years.The Kosovo parliament on Friday extended the mandate of the EU’s rule of law mission to Kosovo, known as EULEX, until June 2014. With 97 votes for, and 11 against, MPs …

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Bosnia Entities Trim Budgets to Ease IMF Loan

The parliaments of Bosnia’s two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, have rebalanced their budgets as a condition for a new stand-by arrangement with the IMF.After the House of Representatives in the Federation entity supported the entity government’s rebalanced 2012 budget on Thursday, Bosnia is awaiting …

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