Balkans

Ahmed Bashev, mayor of the town of Garmen, and Murat Boshnak, a teacher were questioned for formenting racial and religious hatred. Bulgaria’s national security agency on Monday launched an investigation into a local mayor and an Islamic studies teacher, on suspicion of spreading of radical Islam and fomenting religious hatred. …

Skopje – Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) presented late Monday in Skopje municipality Gazi Baba presidential candidate Ljubomir Frckoski, Gazi Baba mayor hopeful Milentie Janevski and Skopje mayor front-runner Tito Petkovski of NSDP, as well as the councillor list. “We have an obligation to change the image of Gazi Baba. …

Washington – NATO currently has more important priorities than the Balkan enlargement, said Monday Anthony Cordesman, leading military analyst from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked about the NATO membership perspectives of Macedonia, Serbia, B&H and Montenegro, Cordesman said the Alliance is dealing with new candidates at …

The Hague – Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik will hear on Tuesday afternoon if his appeal against a 27-year jail sentence for war crimes has been successful at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Krajisnik was found guilty in 2006 of various war crimes during the 1992-95 …

Podgorica, Montenegro – Montenegro’s political opposition on Monday accused Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of “meddling” in the Balkan country’s current election campaign. Nebojsa Medojevic, head of the Movement for Change, made the statement in reaction to Berlusconi’s one-day visit with Montenegran Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica. 

Belgrade – More than a 1,000 visitors flocked to the opening of an exhibition in Belgrade dedicated to former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito at the weekend in a sign that fascination with the former communist is still alive nearly 30 years after his death. The Belgrade Museum of the …

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc announced that the Romanian government has agreed to cut the tax-related administrative burden, by reducing the number of taxes and tariffs levied in Romania. Boc explained that the country’s Ministries would now put forward proposals for the annulment, reduction or amalgamation of taxes and fees, …

According to Bulgaria’s Minister of Interior, Mihail Mikov, Sunday’s policemen protest in Sofia had gone over the line, BTA reports Tuesday. Mikov said that the Policemen who tore off their uniform shoulder pieces as an act of protest should be removed from law enforcement. This is an insult to every …

Foreigners will be allowed to work as experts in Bulgaria’s state administration or councilors under new legislative changes, the prime minister said. Sergey Stanishev was speaking at a meeting with the ambassadors of EU member states, who were invited to hear more about the government’s idea to further cooperation between …

Bulgaria is one of three EU member states that registered the highest 12-month inflation averages up to February 2009, the European Union announced Monday. The lowest 12-month averages up to February 2009 were registered in the Netherlands and Portugal (both 2.2%) and Germany (2.4%), and the highest in Latvia (14.1%), …