Eurasia

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a raft of political and military sanctions after French lawmakers adopted a bill criminalising denial of Armenian genocide. Turkey will recall its ambassador from Paris and suspend mutual political visits as well as joint military projects, including joint exercises, said Erdogan.

Estonian diplomat Aivo Orav is the newly appointed Head of the European Union Delegation to Macedonia, Brussels announced. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton appointed Orav on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Kosovo on December 19. Merkel’s visit was confirmed by Kosovan Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci. “Merkel is to visit Kosovo on Monday, December 19, to give support to our institutions,” said Kuci.

The exact date of the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Georgia has not determined yet, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary on Europe and Eurasia Eric Rubin said at the briefing in Tbilisi on Friday.

Romania has given final approval for the building of an anti-ballistic interceptor site in the country as part of a U.S. missile shield. In September, Romania and the U.S. signed an accord to install the interceptors at the Deveselu air base

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov has joined forces with his counterparts from Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia on backing the EU integration of the Republic of Moldova.

President says militants among Kosovo Serbs want to provoke conflict and retard Serbia’s EU accession. Serbia’s President on Thursday warned that Serb extremists in Kosovo

A Russian convoy of 25 trucks transporting 300 tons of aid for Kosovo Serbs has reached its destination at Zvecan after a prolonged standoff at the Kosovo-Serbia border. Seventy-two hours after being stopped at the Kosovo-Serbia border, a Russian convoy transporting humanitarian aid for Serbs in northern Kosovo finally reached …

The new Croatian social democratic government is more likely to resolve the outstanding issue of genocide claims. An inter-governmental agreement on genocide claims between Serbia and Croatia may bring both countries

The EU-Russia summit in Brussels has started. The meeting is attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission (EC) President Jase Manuel Barroso. There will be a joint press conference after the talks.