Eurasia

The Greek and Macedonian foreign ministers, Dimitris Avramopoulos and Nikola Poposki, are to meet next Thursday in New York in an attempt to invigorate stalled ‘name’ talks.The two ministers will meet at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where Greece is expected to urge more active UN involvement in …

The OSCE head in Albania, Eugen Wollfarth, has praised recent reforms in Albania, while expressing concerns that they might grind to a halt in 2013 during a ‘competitive’ election campaign.“In the last 12 months the political climate has improved as institutions made progress to regain their functionality,” Walfarth said in …

A deal on making further cuts to Greece’s budget will take a few more days at least, after the leaders behind the coalition government failed to agree details of an austerity package that is crucial to the financial survival of the country. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met again Thursday with …

Belgrade District Court clears man of setting fire to the US embassy in riots in 2008 but jails him for theft of clothing.The court jailed Milan Zivanovic, 24, on Thursday for one year after finding him guilty of stealing a leather jacket and gloves, which belonged to an embassy employee. …

Over 200 veterans of the Bosnian war protested in front of the government building of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, demanding better pensions.The protesters – all former members of the Bosnian Army and the Croatian Defence Council – carried signs reading “How long will army pensioners be humiliated?“, “Politicians …

Kosovo’s opposition party Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, criticised the sentencing of 11 Albanians by a court in Serbia as an attempt to put pressure on the ethnic Albanians in south Serbia.In a press release issued on Thursday, AAK, the party led by the ICTY defendant Ramush Haradinaj, …

After a court in Skopje upheld the request of the Health Ministry to ban an announced strike by doctors, medics said they would appeal and set a new date for a stoppage.Doctors said they are not discouraged by the ruling, which was delivered in an express procedure, and will appeal …

As Bosnia’s Statistics Agency announces a pilot census for this October, international monitors say the fate of the landmark 2013 census will depend on the success of the autumn test run.A pilot census for Bosnia, according the Statistics Agency, will be held next month, from October 15-29, aimed at showing …

A senior Turkish General on a visit to Kosovo said Ankara will help strengthen the capacities of the Kosovo Security Forces, the KSF.Turkey has pledged to help Kosovo raise its military capacity, by aiding the Kosovo Security Forces, KSF, to reach its full operational potential. The Commander of Turkish Ground …

Voters can find out whether they are on the electoral roll simply by sending an SMS or looking on the Internet – though some NGOs say they have uncovered glitches.Montenegrins who want to check up on whether they can vote in the October 14 general election can now do so …