Eurasia

Sarajevo Cantonal Assembly has changed its constitution to allow ethnic minorities the same rights as the three major ethnic groups.Lawmakers in the Sarajevo Cantonal Assembly adopted changes to their Constitution on January 30 and gave the same rights to minorities as to constituent peoples thus implementing the Sejdic and Finci …

A bilateral row about a liquidated bank, which threatens to derail Croatia’s EU accession in July, could soon be solved, the Croatian and Slovenian foreign ministers said on Wednesday.After a two-hour meeting in Brussels, the Croatian and Slovenian foreign ministers have agreed to meet again on February 6 with financial …

Six Western Balkan states have vowed to cooperate in solving the problem of illegal immigrants to EU countries, following threats to reintroduce visas to the region.Leaders of six Western Balkan countries have concluded that closer cooperation will overcome the problem of people wrongly seeking asylum in Western Europe. At a …

The central bank cut the key benchmark interest rate on Wednesday by 0.25 per cent to a historic low of 3.75 per cent in an effort to kick start the stagnating economy.“Economic activity remains below potential and sources of growth are unstable,” the central bank governor, Ardian Fullani, said, explaining …

The Russian Foreign Minister has dimissed the Albanian Prime Minister’s call for an eventual unification of all Albanians in one state, saying too much blood has been spilled in the region already.Sergei Lavrov said that any redrawing of borders in Europe is unacceptable, and that fully refers to the situation …

“After the arrested were interviewed at the police station, the prosecution sent all the information to the court because there were suspicions about their involvement in the grave demolitions,” Ismet Hasani, spokesperson for Kosovo police in Gjilane, told BIRN. “One of the arrested is an adult, while the other four …

A new report on media freedom by Reporters Without Borders has ranked Serbia best in the Balkans – though the outlook for the region generally remains cloudy.Serbia has been ranked in top place in terms of press freedom in the Balkans, standing at 63rd place out of 179 countries covered …

Macedonians angered by repeated hikes in their utility bills are to present a petition to parliament on Wednesday.Protesters against high utility bills plan to take to the streets of Skopje on Wednesday before submitting a petition to parliament containing 13,000 signatures collected over recent months. The law says civil initiatives …

Women members of the Serbian parliament plan to form a cross-party women’s caucus in the parliament to push for sex equality in general.Women parliamentarians in Serbia are forming a team tasked with setting up a cross-party women’s caucus in parliament to promote the cause of gender equality. Dubravka Filipovski, of …

Bosnia’s Foreign Trade Minister says Croatian companies should open subsidiaries in Bosnia – if they want to retain their markets in the country – once Croatia joins the EU.Mirko Sarovic, Bosnia’s Minister of Foreign Trade, on January 29 expressed concern that Bosnia will lose access to the Croatian market, and …