Eurasia

Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi on Monday called for a fair assessment of Romania’s bid to join the Schengen visa-free zone, urging France and Germany not to change the rules of the game.

The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova is pleased that, following the pre-term parliamentary elections of November 28, 2010, the new Parliament of Moldova has constituted itself and that Marian Lupu has been elected as its new Speaker.

The Greek government is contemplating the construction of a 206-km-long wall that will stretch along the entire land-border with Turkey, in an attempt to stop illegal immigration.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has likened the recently leaked Council of Europe report – which accuses Thaci of leading an organized crime network smuggling everything from weapons and drugs to human organs harvested from kidnapped Serbs – to Nazi-style propaganda, and its author, Swiss Senator Dick Marty to Joseph …

Moldova’s acting president Marian Lupu appointed the leader of a pro-European party, Vladimir Filat, as the country’s PM on 31 December. Marian Lupu signed a decree the next day instructing former Prime Minister Vlad Filat to form a government. Lupu is now expected to hold the posts of Parliament speaker …

Outgoing Kosovo Albanian Interior Minister Bajram Redzepi says that northern Kosovo will not be on the agenda of the Belgrade-Priština talks. He told local newspapers that “the problem of the north cannot be solved in one year and that it requires a long-term approach”. “I will insist that the north …

Serbia expects to receive EU candidate status by the end of 2011, according to the country’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. Serbian PM is also positive that his country will obtain a date for starting accession negotiations by the end of this year. “If we use this year in the properly …

Greece and Macedonia’s representatives, with the mediation of UN envoy Matthew Nimetz, are to meet on January 27 in New York to negotiate over the name of the Former Yugoslavian republic, Macedonian media and the foreign ministry informed.The talks will be renewed after a seven-week break.

Romania officially took over the six-month presidency of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) organisation from Greece on Saturday (January 1st). Romania said it will work to

Right before the New Year, Turkey and Japan signed a cooperation memorandum that the two sides hope will lead to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Sinop. If realized, the Japanese-built nuclear power plant would be the second in Turkey, which is seeking …