Eurasia News

Pieter Feith, the EU’s Special Envoy to Kosovo, says neither Belgrade nor Pristina will be able to realise their EU dreams unless they mend relations. “I’m not saying that Belgrade needs to recognise Kosovo’s independence, but there has to exist at least minimal cooperation between the two sides on issues …

The European Commission has expressed concern about the way Serbia issues its identification documents, and is concerned that passports could be given out to “all and sundry”, the Blic newspaper reports. The paper says that as a further guarantee for visa liberalisation, Brussels wants Serbia’s passport issuance system to become …

The right wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) launched a campaign for early parliamentary elections at a rally held in Nis Wednesday, calling it “Serbia’s Future Begins Today”. The SNS at the rally claimed it was going to stand for getting tougher on crime and corruption, promote decentralisation of government, and …

The Austrian power utility company EVN, Wednesday confirmed it has filed a law suit against Macedonia at the Washington based International Arbitrary Court. EVN is suing the state for impeding their work in Macedonia as the main power supplier. The company has not disclosed damages they are demanding. “At a …

Slovene politicians have finally agreed on amendments necessary for Slovenia to accept the proposal of European Union expansion commissioner Olli Rehn, but not many believe that Pahor`s terms will be acceptable for the European Commission and Croatia, Slovene press assessed on Wednesday. Furthermore, Olli Rehn`s spokesperson Krisztina Nagy reiterated that …

Russia may face conflicts over energy resources along its borders in the near future, according to a Kremlin security policy document published on Wednesday. The document did not name specific nations but Russia, the world’s biggest oil and gas producer, shares a long border with resource-hungry China and a small …

PRISTINA, Kosovo Integrating the Serb minority remains the chief challenge facing Kosovo more than a year after Pristina declared its independence, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report Tuesday (May 12th). According to the document, Belgrade has channelled substantial funds into Serb municipalities, but with limited results. Parallel …

ZAGREB, Croatia Employees of elementary and secondary schools, as well as the staffs of research institutions, went on strike Wednesday (May 12th) despite encouraging negotiations between their trade unions and the cabinet, which dragged on through the night.

ANKARA, Turkey The government is drafting a series measures as part of a new approach to the Kurdish issue, local media reported on Tuesday (May 12th). This major policy shift was prompted by last week’s tragedy in the predominantly Kurdish province of Mardin, where gunmen killed 44 people at a …

BUCHAREST, Romania President Traian Basescu on Tuesday (May 12th) responded to accusations from Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Mircea Geoana over inefficient reforms in the judiciary and poor results in fighting corruption.