Eurasia News

TIRANA, Albania Albania’s opposition Socialists accused the governing party on Monday of interfering with a recount of some ballots from last month’s general election in an effort to win more seats in parliament.

The Albanian Transportation Ministry has announced the temporary closure of the Thirre tunnel in the Rreshen-Kalimash road, one of the key segments of the Albania-Kosovo highway. The 5.6-kilometre tunnel will be closed from Monday till Thursday, with crews continuing construction work, which cannot be carried out with traffic passing through. …

PRISTINA, Kosovo The European Commission (EC) has decided that visa liberalisation should apply only to citizens with exact addresses within Serbian territory, and “not … citizens living on Kosovo’s territory”, according to local media reports Monday (July 6th).

TIRANA, Albania The opposition Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) announced Sunday (July 5th) that it will hold an extraordinary national convention Tuesday to secure party support for a future coalition government with Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party (DP).

BELGRADE, Serbia The government plans to ask the IMF to increase the budget deficit envisioned in its agreement with the institution, due to the global economic crisis, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic told Tanjug on Sunday (July 5th). When IMF representatives visit Belgrade next month, authorities will request that the limit …

ANKARA, Turkey The army has submitted a list of objections to President Abdullah Gul regarding a controversial law that limits the power of military courts, local newspapers reported on Sunday (July 5th). Parliament adopted the bill late last month at the request of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

NICOSIA, Cyprus The two Cypriot communities will draft a plan to reunify the divided island by the end of the year, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Sunday (July 5th) in an interview with the Greek Cypriot daily Simerini. Talat, however, predicted international arbitration will be required.

BRUSSELS, Belgium Several EU countries and Turkey will sign an inter-governmental agreement on the construction of the Nabucco pipeline in Ankara on July 13th, the European Commission (EC) announced on Friday (July 3rd). Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to host the ceremony.

BUCHAREST, Romania’s performance under a two-year IMF loan programme is on track, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, but warned populist measures in an election year may quickly undermine its emerging credibility. 

With nearly all ballots counted, Bulgaria’s opposition Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party, founded by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov, has 42 per cent of the vote, while the Socialist-led coalition has 18 per cent, according to local media reports. Borisov is expected to be the next prime …