Balkans

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev came to Belgrade today to honour Serbia’s Second World War past, but also to lay some foundation stones for the future. In the first-ever Russian presidential visit he brought an entourage of 100 advisors with him to discuss a wide range of financial and economic issues. …

Ministries of Montenegro and France undersigned a cooperation agreement for bilateral cooperation in the field of labor and social polity until 2011. The main projects of the two governments would be focused on improvement of healthcare and security at work as well as social dialog.

A long-awaited Report of the European Commission demonstrates that Bulgaria has failed to absorb a huge percent of the EU funding it has been eligible for. The Report, which reviews the absorption of EU Funds in Bulgaria and Romania from their EU accession in January 2007 until July 31, 2009, …

Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergey Shoigu says that cooperation between Serbia and Russia has made progress, but still has room for improvement. Shoigu and Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić headed a meeting of an inter-governmental Serbo-Russian committee for trade, economic and scientific cooperation. After signing a protocol on cooperation, Shoigu …

The 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade will be marked today with a series of events and in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The highest state and military honors will be given at the Liberators’ Cemetery in Belgrade, while wreaths will be laid to mark the anniversary …

Talks between U.S. and EU representatives and Bosnian political leaders will continue today at the Butmir military base. The goal of the talks is the establishment of functional institutions at state level to allow Bosnia-Herzegovina to progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou urged Turkey on Monday to withdraw its troops from Cyprus to help ongoing talks aimed at reunifying the divided island. The long-festering dispute on the eastern Mediterranean island has poisoned relations between Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, undermining alliance and European Union cooperation on …

Processing of applications for Bulgarian citizenship filed by ethnic Bulgarians living abroad has improved considerably, Bozhidar Dimitrov, Minister without Portfolio responsible for Bulgarians abroad, told Bulgarian-language Trud daily on October 19 2009. In just one month, the speed at which the Citizenship Council at the Justice Ministry worked had tripled, …

Representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are to arrive Tuesday on a visit to Belgrade. On the eve of the visit, Serbian media commented that examining the statements made by representatives of the mission, one may draw the conclusion that there is increasing suspicion in Serbian government’s success in …

President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias has accepted the proposal by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to serve a second term in Greece’s highest post, as it was formally announced on Monday afternoon.