Balkans

BUCHAREST, Romania The prince of Hohenzollern-Veringen, Radu Duda, son-in-law of former King Mihai I of Romania, announced his candidacy for president on Thursday (April 9th). The election will be held in November.

ATHENS, Greece Unknown attackers planted explosive devices in three cathedrals across Greece on Thursday (April 9th). One went off inside the church of Agia Triada in Piraeus but caused no injuries.

TIRANA, Albania Parliament has decided to send a unit consisting of 63 commandos to join the UN peacekeeping mission in Chad, media reported on Thursday (April 9th). The defence ministry says the Albanian troops will be in charge of security at the UN headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. The unit …

The US Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke, has congratulated Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kalfin on Bulgaria’s stable economy and banking system. Kalfin completed his two-day visit to the USA with a meeting with Locke, thus becoming the first high-ranking foreign official that the US Secretary of Commerce has welcomed since assuming …

An arsenal of surveillance equipment – including bugging and tracking devices and night-vision telescopes for sniper operations – is being assembled by the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX. The EU rule of law mission has issued a 162-page tender for the high-tech tools, to be used in …

Serbian President Boris Tadic has emphatically condemned the theft of the Croatian flag from the country’s embassy in Belgrade. Tadic said he was in contact with all the necessary institutions “in order to arrest and punish the extremists and hooligans who did this”, according to the president’s press service. The …

Bosnia must speed up European integration reforms to catch up with neighbours and unite political forces against the economic crisis, the EU presidency chairman said on Thursday. Foreign ministers of the current Czech, previous French and future Swedish EU presidency visited Bosnia this week to review reform progress and tell …

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia During a meeting in Ljubljana on Wednesday (April 8th), Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac said Belgrade has no plans to apply for NATO membership. The issue was raised in light of neighbours Croatia and Albania joining the Alliance last week.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark Denmark is lifting labour restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians effective on May 1st, the Romanian Employment Agency announced on Wednesday (April 8th). That means Bulgarians and Romanians will have the right to work in the country without the permits currently required and under equal terms with Danish citizens …

TIRANA, Albania Four days after the country’s official acceptance as a member of the Alliance, Albania has appointed its mission to NATO headquarters in Brussels, local media reported on Wednesday (April 8th). Permanent representative for Albania Artur Kuko will lead the mission. Also on Wednesday, Tirana witnessed a ceremonial raising …