Balkans

IMF Mission Arrives in Serbia Today

SERBIA An IMF mission arrives in Belgrade on Monday to review whether Serbia has met the requirements of a €2.92 billion IMF standby loan approved in April. The IMF delegation, headed by Albert Jaeger, is set to meet Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic and Labour and …

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Serbia names ambassador to NATO

BELGRADE The government has appointed Branislav Milinković as Serbia’s ambassador to NATO. The Belgrade newspaper explains that this was done on Monday, and that Milinković has been Serbia’s special envoy to the western military alliance since 2004. Milinković was sent to Brussels five years ago as representative of the then …

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EULEX chief meets with K. Albanian leaders

PRISTINA EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon says a protocol between the EU mission and Serbia’s MUP is not related to the so-called six point plan. He met in Priština yesterday with the Kosovo Albanian leaders, President Fatmir Sejdiu and PM Hashim Thaci, to discuss the signing of the police cooperation …

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Belgrade-Tirana relations sharpen

SERBIA, ALBANIA Belgrade-Tirana relations can sharpen after Sali Berisha’s statement about national unity of Albanians in the mother land and Kosovo, representative of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija in the Serbian government Oliver Ivanovic said. Tirana’s official response to Belgrade’s protest note about “cooperation between Republic of Albania and …

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Energy minister says Belene nuke not vital for Bulgaria

BULGARIA The Belene nuclear power project is not vital for Bulgaria’s energy security, Energy Minister Traicho Traikov said. In an interview with bTV, he downplayed speculation that the country must bring the proposed station onstream if it is to guarantee supplies by 2020. If it builds capacity at the coal-fired …

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Anna Mihaylova: Entering the Eurozone is priority for the cabinet

BULGARIA Deputy Minister of Finance Anna Mihaylova said that entering the Eurozone was a priority for the cabinet. However, she highlighted that in first place Bulgaria should work fast in order to enter the exchange rate mechanism (ERM II). ‘The support of the other EU member states, of the EU, …

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Skopje Reportedly Favours “Northern Republic of Macedonia”

MACEDONIA Macedonia remains committed to the Athens-Skopje name talks, the country’s negotiator, Zoran Jolevski, said after his Thursday meeting with UN mediator Matthew Nimetz. In their meeting, Jolevski presented Macedonia’s positions on a set of ideas to resolve the dispute tabled by Nimetz in July. Greece presented its responses earlier …

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Bosnian Leaders Divided over Key Appointments

BiH After months of political quarrels and disputes, Bosnia’s new top EU negotiator will be appointed on Friday, Bosnian Premier Nikola Spiric said. The appointment, if it indeed takes place, is only expected to further deepen political and ethnic divisions within Bosnia’s state government, the Council of Ministers, over the …

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China and Serbia Boost Strategic Partnership

SERBIA Serbian President Boris Tadic and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao have agreed in Beijing to establish a strategic partnership between the two countries, Xinhua news agency reported Thursday. “To further promote bilateral relations […] the two sides have decided to establish a strategic partnership,” a statement issued by the …

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European Commission Helps Kosovo Finance Debts

KOSOVO The European Commission liaison office in Kosovo, ECLO, has contributed €5 million to Kosovo’s debt repayments to the World Bank, the ECLO website reports.  The debt was accumulated prior to June 10, 1999, and was assumed by the Kosovo government when it became a member of the World Bank …

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