Eurasia

EP set to debate visa liberalization

MACEDONIA, SERBIA, MONTENEGRO The newly-elected European Parliament meets Tuesday for its first plenary session. The agenda of the plenary session in Strasbourg includes the visa liberalization for Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. The newly-elected European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who runs for a …

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Pahor: Slovenia gets something it haven’t had before

SLOVENIA In the talks with Croatia, Slovenia got something it haven’t had before, binding Zagreb to see the border issue as part of negotiation process, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said. “I believe that we can all be happy. The border issue will be solved trough arbitrage or with a …

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Russian, Turkmen leaders fail to reach new gas deal

RUSSIA Russian and Turkmen leaders failed on Sunday to set a timeframe for the return of Turkmen gas flows to Russia, halted since April after a pipeline blast which left the central Asian nation short of revenues. The meeting between Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, and Turkmen leader Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov had …

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Georgian FM visits Azerbaijan

GEORGIA On Sept.14, Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze arrived in Azerbaijan, the AzerTag state new agency reported. During the two-day visit the minister will meet with the government and the state officials. The meetings will mull bilateral, international and regional issues. Vashadze will also visit the grave of Azerbaijani National …

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Georgia, Armenia continue polluting Azerbaijani transboundary rivers

GEORGIA The level of pollution of the Azerbaijani Transboundary Rivers by Georgia and Armenia exceeds the norm. The Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry held a monitoring to study the level of pollution of transboundary over the first ten days of September. The ministry revealed out that the level of …

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Restrictions for workers of non-EU countries

BULGARIA An amendment in the regulations concerning the terms of issuing, denying, and annulling work permits for foreign workers in Bulgaria will restrict the possibilities for foreign workers to be employed in the cases when there are Bulgarian workers for the jobs, Minister of Labour and Social Policy Totio Mladenov …

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Jose Barroso: Sofia has Brussels’ trust

BULGARIA Congratulations on his decisiveness to deal with corruption, encouragement for the key reforms, and a credit of trust – this is what the European Commission’s Chairman Jose Barroso gave Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during his first visit to Brussels on September 10. Barroso promised to submit Bulgaria’s request for …

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Bosnian Leaders Debate Country’s Dissolution, War

BiH Underlining the severity of Bosnia’s political crisis, local leaders engaged in another virulent tit-for-tat over the weekend, accusing each other of working towards the country’s dissolution and of threatening a new war. The new low in relations between Bosnia’s political leaders was precipitated by an interview with the Bosnian …

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Macedonia’s Opposition Promotes New Platform

MACEDONIA Offering solutions to the country’s painful economic problems and promoting social justice and equality are the key foci of the new platform of Macedonia’s largest opposition party, the Social Democrats. The platform, dubbed “Solutions for Macedonia”, is aimed at providing a counter to the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party’s own “Revival …

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Albania’s Supreme Court To Reopen Blast Trial

ALBANIA On Monday, Albania’s Supreme Court will reopen the case against environment minister designate Fatmir Mediu, indicted in connection with a deadly blast at a munitions depot in March 2008. The Supreme Court panel is reviewing charges against Mediu of abuse of power, relating to his tenure as defence minister …

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