Balkans

Deputies in Serbia’s Parliament will meet for the first time today in their new chamber, the renovated Hall of the National Parliament in Nikola Pasic Square. The chamber has been restored to its 1936 appearance. President of Parliament Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said deputies would first take part in a series of …

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic told a B92 TV talk show last night that a new solidarity tax which has caused public uproar could be introduced but is “only one of the measures considered”. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, in the presence of International Monetary Fund representatives, announced that the government had …

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister returned to Pristina optimistic about Kosovo’s future as an independent state, after attending meetings in New York and Prague. Skender Hyseni represented Kosovo at the UN Security Council and the meeting of EU foreign diplomats in Prague, insisting that the Kosovo delegation be split from the United …

The Albanian government has decided to further lower the cost of ID cards for different groups of the population, Minister of Interior Affairs Bujar Nishani said on Sunday. “The price for pensioners will drop from 500 lek to 300 lek (from €4.20 to €2.50), while for students the price will …

Romanian prosecutors on Monday indicted former economy minister Codrut Seres and former communications minister Zsolt Nagy for their involvement in “shady privatisation deals”. Four other persons, including a Czech and a Turkish citizen, were also indicted. Prosecutors say that, between May 2005 and November 2006, the defendants were part of …

Bulgaria’s Criminal Assets Forfeiture Commission on Tuesday imposed a ban on funds and property worth 828,000 leva (423,500 euro) owned by Alexander Tomov, a former deputy prime minister and now president of CSKA Sofia football club and executive director of Kremikovtzi steel plant. Tomov is under investigation for embezzlement while …

Romanian police have started an investigation in seven universities across the country, seizing graduation files that are suspected to have been forged, local press report. According to police officers, the graduation documents were compiled in several weeks, covering subjects such as economy, oil and gas engineering. Some universities now under …

Two moderately-strong earthquakes, just over 12 hours apart, have shaken Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The tremors caused widespread alarm but did little damage. The first tremor, at 15.27 on Monday, registered at 3.3 on the Richter scale and 5 on the Mercalli scale. The epicentre was some …

As the World Bank issues its latest report which forecasts the first global recession since World War II, the chill winds of economic slowdown are increasingly being felt in the Balkans. The current unprecedented economic downturn has forced the World Bank to adjust its estimates and warn that the recession …

The member states and institutions of the European Union are keeping a close eye on the rich energy potential of the Balkan countries, Western officials have said, urging local leaders to undertake necessary reforms and unlock this sector for potential investments. This message was delivered by several senior EU officials …