Balkans

Two years after the European Union’s last enlargement brought Bulgaria and Romania into the European bloc in 2007, the EU’s appeal in the immediate neighbourhood seems to be on the wane. Applicant and potential applicant countries, always the most enthusiastic supporters of EU integration, are becoming less so as domestic …

Climate change is already occurring and early action to manage the risks that changing climate trends pose to existing energy infrastructure in Albania may reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of the sector as it moves forward, according to the World Bank. In the coming decades, Albania is facing the …

Croatia’s state-owned gas operator, Plinacro, has said it will invest heavily in 2009 to broaden its network and storage facilities. A four-year investment cycle is envisaged with 190 million euros being secured through the European Investment Bank.

Bucharest. A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will arrive Wednesday in Bucharest. The delegation will stay in the country till March 25, Romanian media report. The major issue to be tabled for discussion is an IMF program for Romania, part of a financing package, with the participation of …

Ailing U.S. car maker Ford Motor Co. will receive 143 million euros ($232 million Canadian) in aid from the government of Romania, where the company owns an assembly plant, lawmakers said The state aid, spanning until 2012, will support production of cars and engines at the factory in Craiova, in …

Faced with stalled growth and a weakened currency, Bucharest became the latest government to ask the IMF and EU for an emergency rescue package Romania could receive about €20 billion as part of an International Monetary Fund-European Union rescue package, with negotiations due to start this week.

Sofia. Operative staff with Sofia’s municipality for solving waste problem is forming. This became clear at press conference of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria /CEDB/ municipal councilors. The staff consists of: Sofia’s mayor Boyko Borisov, representatives of Environment Directorate, and Mobilization preparation with the municipality as well as representatives …

According to Bulgaria’s minister of interior affairs Mihail Mikov the economic crisis had created a criminal situation in the country Thursday. Mikov made his statement in his first comment following a brutal murder that shocked Sofia last night. A 73 year old man was robbed, murdered and his home was …

Bulgaria’s leading centre-right parties, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), look poised to overcome years of bickering after deciding on March 10 to begin talks on a coalition ahead of this summer’s Parliament elections. DSB gave leader Ivan Kostov, the former UDF prime …

US Vice President Joseph Biden during a meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels called on the Europeans to maintain their commitments to Kosovo and take their share of responsibility towards the newly independent state seriously. “There is still a lot of work to be done in Kosovo because our …