Eurasia

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated Ukraine’s president-elect Viktor Yanukovich on Monday and expressed hope for closer cooperation.

Kosovo marks the second anniversary of its declaration of independence on Wednesday amid worries over its legal status. However there’s optimism over increased co-operation between ethnic groups in the Balkan state.

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hyseni said that Greece will be the next country to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Skender Hyseni also declared that after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in the Kosovo case, a series of countries and Greece will recognize Kosovo’s independence. Hyseni said that EU countries …

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev will visit Georgia Feb.16. During his visit to Tbilisi, the OSCE chairman will hold a meeting with Georgian Parliamentary Speaker David Bakradze and Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze.

Greece aims and is able to solve its issues by itself, we want political, not economy support by the European Union and the international community. This is what Greek Prime Minster Georgiou Papandreou said. Papandreou stressed that Greece hadn’t sough economy support neither from the international community nor the EU.

Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should be able to travel to the EU without visas by July, announced Tanja Fajon, European Parliament Rapporteur for Visa Liberalization for West Balkan Countries before the Parliament of BiH on Monday.

Croatian President-Elect Ivo Josipovic reiterated that he regretted that his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, would not attend his inauguration, which is scheduled for February 18.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton and Slovenian PM Borut Pahor have agreed that an international conference on the Western Balkans, which will likely be held in late March in Slovenia, would be a significant event for the region.

European Parliament (EP) Vice-President Roberta Angelilli on Saturday urged the opposition Socialist Party (SP) to stop its parliamentary boycott and start co-operating with the government.

The International Civilian Office (ICO) will continue to insist on consulting all parties, including Belgrade, regarding implementation of a strategy to extend Prstina’s authority into Serb-dominated northern Kosovo. “The ICO calls on everyone to have a constructive role in this process, which aims at improving living conditions for citizens in …