Eurasia

Thousands of Kosovo Serbs want to take out Russian passports in order to guaranteer their security in the Albanian-dominated country, a Kosovo Serb group has told the Russian embassy in Serbia. The Russian embassy in Belgrade has forwarded to Moscow a request from

Finland has partially lifted its opposition to Bulgaria and Romania joining Europe’s Schengen passport-free travel zone, a Finnish EU minister said on Monday, but the Netherlands is still opposed and the measure needs backing from all members.

The leader of the Greek party New Democracy Antonis Samaras has said he will not support the current austerity measures. According to him Greece’s international creditors should change the conditions for giving the country financial assistance. Samaras said he did not plan to sign any documents which might confirm his …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has today been given an official welcome to Azerbaijan. A guard of honor was lined up for the Bulgarian President

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay on Monday inaugurated a culture center in Constanta, Romania. “The Yunus Emre Culture Center in Constanta is the 17th of such centers the Yunus Emre Institute has opened in the world, and I believe that number will go up as high as 25 …

Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Monday asked the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for a one- month pause in his trial to prepare his case against charges of genocide in the eastern town of Srebrenica in July 1995.

It is highly expected that Greece’s new government will not change the country’s red lines about the name issue. According to experts of the new cabinet, which will govern the country most probably by February when early elections will be called, will not have time to solve key issues and …

The European Union and NATO condemned on Monday presidential elections held in South Ossetia, stressing that they do not recognize the region’s self-declared, and Russian-backed, independence from Georgia. ‘The European Union does not recognise the constitutional and legal framework within which these elections have taken place,’ Michael Mann, spokesman for …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov will make an official visit to Azerbaijan Monday to finalize a deal to purchase 1 B cubic meters of Azeri natural gas for Bulgaria’s demands. The visit, set to also include Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy Traicho Traikov, is part of a long-term strategy on …

European Union leaders on Thursday welcomed the formation of a new national unity government in Greece headed by former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos. “The agreement to form a government of national unity opens a new chapter for Greece. We have long stressed the need for a broad …