Balkans

Twelve candidates will be in the run for election to office of the President in Croatia. The 12 candidates will race in presidential polls slated for December 27 to succeed the incumbent Stipe Mesic whose second term expires in early 2010.

Greece’s Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas has embarked on a tour of the Balkans. Droutsas will be visiting Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Albania, starting Wednesday. The purpose of the visits is to coordinate these countries’ commitments for the European Union membership by 2014. “The Balkan is a …

Bulgaria will receive about BGN 180 mln “fresh money” under the PHARE program. This is what Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said. In his words-this is considerable political stimulus for the government.

There could be an early parliamentary election in Macedonia in the spring, or opposition attempts to take down the ruling coalition even sooner, if in December Greece blocks the EU from giving Macedonia a start date for its accession negotiations, local media speculate. The prime minister and head of the …

On Tuesday evening, residents and staff of the Vukovar hospital lit candles in front of the monument outside the hospital which stands to honor the memory of the civilians and soldiers killed by Yugoslav Peoples’ Army, JNA and Serb paramilitary forces on 18 November, 1991. According to hospital data, 1,624 …

Bulgaria’s Parliament gave preliminary approval to 2010’s budget that assumes a two per cent economic contraction, without much debate. In a late session Tuesday, the 240-seat assembly in Sofia voted 135 in favour of passing the budget after its first reading. Delegates from the ruling coalition supported the bill, while …

Rezultat butmirskog procesa mogu biti samo usaglašena načela izmjene Ustava, izjavio je Dragan Čović, predsjednik HDZ BiH, koji je jučer razgovarao s predstavnicima SAD i EU u okviru takozvanog butmirskog procesa. “Jedini način da se dođe do nekog dokumenta jeste usaglašavanje načela da bi bar rekli da su se u …

Minister of Kosovo Goran Bogdanović says that the time when Belgrade was sending “directives” had passed. He was answering criticism of the official Belgrade’s position toward the local elections held in the province last weekend, organized by the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština.

The European Commission has unfrozen part of the suspended funds under the PHARE program for Bulgaria-EUR 3.5 mln. This is what was notes in a letter of the EU Enlargement Directorate to the Deputy Prime Minister and financial minister Simeon Dyankov received on Tuesday night.

Bulgaria, the EU country worst hit by gas delivery disruptions last January following a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over transit, warned about delays to infrastructure work designed to boost energy security. The interconnectors are part of a “recovery plan” launched by Commission President José Manuel Barroso before his re-election. …