Eurasia

Romania will cut around 100,000 public sector jobs next year to meet requirements attached to an IMF-led rescue deal, designated Finance. Minister Sebastian Vladescu said on Tuesday. “The budget draft (for 2010) envisages a reduction of a little under 100,000 employees. A large part of it will be done naturally …

The European Union (EU) will launch a satellite to follow the situation in Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said Monday. The satellite would monitor the movement of people and equipment and the construction of military facilities in the two regions, Kalandadze …

Georgia has sent an official note on resumption of air communication with Russia. The Russian Ministry of Transport said the note is under consideration but no decision has been taken yet. Responding to journalists’ questions on December 9, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described resumption of air communication as “normal issue …

Serbia is to submit its formal application to join the European Union today, but the largest republic of the former Yugoslavia faces a tough fight to join the 27-member bloc. Even its own parliament is split on the issue with delaying tactics employed by nationalist MPs. Eventually Serbia’s president and …

Turkey and the European Union on Monday (21 December) opened the environment chapter of negotiations in the nation’s bid to join the bloc, EUobserver reports.With the move, the Anatolian state creeps further towards its goal, having now opened 12 out of the total of 35 negotiating chapters. Swedish Foreign Minister …

The deadline for providing the answers to the three questions posed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judges expires on Tuesday. The judges posed the questions to the countries taking part in the nine-day hearing before that court on the legality under international law of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral …

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a telephone call to Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili. The Azerbaijani leader congratulated Mikheil Saakashvili on his birthday and wished him robust health and successes in his activity. The Georgian President expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan`s leader Ilham Aliyev for attention and congratulations.

“Our red lines are well-known-we will not make any compromises on Macedonia’s identity and will not change the Constitution,” said Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov in his annual statement before the MPs. The name issue, Macedonia’s accession to NATO and the European Union, co-operation with the neighbor countries were the issues …

Traian Băsescu has officially taken office as President of Romania at the official ceremony on Monday and was sworn in. The ceremony was attended by the Romanian patriarch Daniel, judges from the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Emil Boc, other members of the government, chairperson of the Supreme Court of Cassation, …

Serbian President Boris Tadić is to visit Kragujevac and Kragujevac-based carmaker Zastava on Monday, his press office announced. According to an annex to the agreement between Serbia and Fiat, the Italian automobile manufacturer will take over Zastava by the end of 2009, the statement issued in Turin, where Tadić was …