Eurasia

ANKARA, Turkey Talks expected to boost Ankara’s energy hub ambitions began Thursday as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin’s visit is also expected to focus on Turkish support for a Russian natural gas pipeline project that Moscow wants to build ahead of …

Moscow/Tbilisi Russia and Georgia marked the one-year anniversary of the South Ossetia War on Friday with somber ceremonies in Georgia, and defiant statements from the Kremlin. Georgian officials organised midnight bonfires in towns across the former Soviet republic, and church bells rang in memorial of victims of the August 2008 …

BUCHAREST, Romania Romania’s president on Thursday met with International Monetary Fund officials to discuss the second tranche of $17.1 billion in loans to support the country during the economic turmoil.

SOFIA, Bulgaria On Friday August 7, Ambassador John Ordway arrived in Bulgaria to serve as the interim Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, the Embassy’s press office informed. 

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov vowed that the government will cover the expenses from the August 4 earthquake during his visit to the region on August 7. “The state will intervene and assist citizens in need,” said Borissov during his visit to Shabla, northeastern Bulgaria. “Unfortunately, you people don’t have …

SOFIA, Bulgaria The ministry of emergency situations did not work at all and that’s why I do not regret closing it, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said in the town of Shabla. He noted that after the blasts in Chelopechene military depot he, in his capacity of Sofia mayor, had …

PODGORICA Montenegro has issued a red international Interpol notice for the arrest of five people, including the former head of the state security agency, DB. They are wanted on suspicion that they deported 79 refugees – Bosnian Muslims and Serbs – back to the war-torn country in May 1992.

The idea of an exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia, circulating in the media, is wrong-headed, former envoy Albert Rohan believes. Rohan, who served as the deputy special envoy for talks on Kosovo’s status, was unequivocal in his rejection of territorial exchanges in an interview with Kosovo’s Daily Express …

Albanian officials are refusing to cooperate with a probe into alleged organ trafficking during the Kosovo conflict. Referring to the accusations, Albanian officials told investigator Dick Marty that “there can be no organ trade probe based on the accusations of Carla Del Ponte or Belgrade,” Serbia’s Beta news agency reports.

Political leaders have made “little progress” in meeting the conditions required for the final closure of the Office of the High Representative, Bosnia’s top international envoy said. Because of this situation, the closure of the OHR and establishment the Office of the EU Special Representative remain uncertain, western diplomats told …