Balkans

Albania’s Socialists leader hints at parliament boycott

ALBANIA Socialist Party MPs will boycott the Albanian parliament, party leader Edi Rama said one day after the extraordinary congress, Makfax correspondent reported. The decision to boycott parliament is in line with the Resolution adopted at the party congress, according to which, the Socialist Party does not recognize the results …

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Politicians “Lead Bosnia to the Verge of War”

BiH A leading Bosnian opposition movement, the Social Democratic Party, SDP, warns that, by further escalating the current political crisis, Bosnia’s ruling parties are leading the country to the brink of a new war. The warning comes after fresh political quarrels and tensions paralysed the work of the government of …

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Progress in Croatia-Slovenia Border Talks

CROATIA The foreign ministers of Croatia and Slovenia say further progress has been made in solving their countries’ grinding border dispute, DPA reports. Speaking after talks on Sunday in the Slovenian resort of Bled, Croatian Foreign Minister Davor Jandrokovic and his Slovenian counterpart Samuel Zbogar said they had discussed “major …

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Boycott Threat Mars Parliament Opening

ALBANIA Albania’s President Bamir Topi decreed on Monday that the new parliament will convene on September 7, despite ongoing ructions concerning the contested June 28 parliamentary elections. After the new parliament takes its seats, the president is expected to mandate the Democratic Party, PD, of Prime Minister Sali Berisha to …

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UNHCR chief in Belgrad

SERBIA UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres will meet with Serbian senior officials to discuss the refugee problem in Serbia and the region. Before arriving to Belgrade, Guterres was in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he said that it would be ideal if all of the open questions regarding refugees …

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“U.S. supports transfer of Hague convicts”

AUSTRIA Serbia has received clear approval from the U.S. to have Serbia citizens convicted by the Hague Tribunal transferred to serve their time in Serbia. According to Justice Minister Snežana Malović, this approval has nothing to do with the so-called “secret deal” to have convicts from Guantanamo Bay transferred to …

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Slovenia to sign South Stream agreement soon

SLOVENIA Slovenia is expected to sign the agreement for constructing a part of the South Stream gas pipeline on its territory soon, Prime Minister Borut Pahor said. Pahor added that the details regarding the agreement will be confirmed soon at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to …

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NATO chief in Greece

GREECE NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen will visit Athens for talks with Greek officials. NATO chief will meet Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and Defense Minister Evangalos Meimarakis. Details will be announced at the press conference, which will be hold by Karamanlis and Rasmunssen. …

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Berisha: Albania intact by global economic crisis

ALBANIA Albania is the only country that didn’t feel the impact of global economic crisis, the country’s Prime Minister Sali Berisha said. In his address to the Committee on National Strategy Planning, Berisha stressed that there have been pay cuts in all countries except for Albania, where salaries surged significantly, …

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Borissov and his party soar in Bulgarian opinion polls

BULGARIA Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov, whose Cabinet took office on July 27 2009, finds himself a month later with a 64 per cent approval rating and his party GERB with an even stronger lead over the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) than at the July national parliamentary elections. This emerges …

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