Eurasia

Protest rallies against high utility bills and monopolies continued on Tuesday in Bulgaria.Rallies in central Sofia on Monday evening were marked by demands for the resignation of the centre-right government and by clashes with riot police, which continued for over four hours with policemen chasing demonstrators on the streets. The …

The fifth EU-mediated meeting between Kosovo and Serbia’s prime ministers takes place on Tuesday but little is known about what’s been discussed at the talks so far.EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will host the latest round of discussions between Kosovo’s premier Hashim Thaci and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic …

Bosnia and Croatia have solved several open issues that could affect both countries after July 1, when Croatia is due to join the European Union.Bosnia’s Foreign Minister, Zlatko Lagumdzija, on February 18 praised the efforts made over the past year to solve remaining open questions with Croatia, especially hailing an …

The struggle over who should lead the former ruling Democratic Liberal Party is unlikely to restore its standing with the electorate.With around one month to go before crucial internal elections on March 23, the Democratic Liberal Party, PDL, Romania’s biggest opposition party, remains divided by disputes and between its main …

Authorities in Austria and Tirana are investigating allegations that an Albanian student was sexually abused after waking up from a coma following a tragic bus accident.Two parallel investigations are now underway after the family of 23-year-old Florije Peci alleged that she became pregnant as a result of a sex attack …

Kosovo police detained a man suspected of smashing religious icons at a Serbian Orthodox church amid a recent upsurge of desecrations.Police said the man, identified only as D.A., an ethnic Serb, was detained after he broke into the church in the village of Kufca in the Gilane region late on …

As Kosovo marked the fifth anniversary of its declaration of independence, Belgrade reiterated that it would never recognise Pristina’s statehood claims.Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Sunday that Kosovo’s independence was “an illusion”. Kosovo could exist “for another 100 years without being recognised by the UN”, Dacic told Serbian …

The Social Democrats refused to take part in next month’s vote after the government declined to postpone the polls for a month or to hold parallel early general elections.The country’s main opposition force acted on its boycott threat after the government turned down its demands, refusing to submit a list …

Macedonia’s cabinet faces a reshuffle this week, as several ethnic Albanian ministers quit to run as mayoral candidates in the March local elections.Macedonia’s junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, has confirmed the reshuffle and revealed the names of the new ministers and deputy ministers from its ranks. …

Three times as many Croatians have a positive view of the Hague Tribunal after Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac were acquitted of war crimes, an opinion poll suggested.Support for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY rose from 11 percent in December 2011 to 32 per cent in …