Eurasia

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has put on hold Bosnia’s €1.2 billion stand-by arrangement after the country failed to implement the agreed cuts to its ‘excessive’ public spending. The next round of negotiations could start in September, but only if Bosnia and Herzegovina goes back to the initial agreement and …

Defence experts believe that NATO’s draw-down of troops in Kosovo is linked to the alliance’s expanding operations in Afghanistan. NATO defence ministers agreed earlier this month to reduce the KFOR troop presence in Kosovo, taking into account the steady improvement of the security situation there. NATO is expected to cut …

Monday’s round of resumed “name” talks between Macedonia and Greece in Geneva produced no fresh proposals for name and no real progress, but both sides demonstrated a willingness to find a solution, the UN mediator said. Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, mediator Matthew Nimetz said that the …

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu has received a letter from French President Nikolas Sarkozy, reaffirming France’s support for the country. The Monday letter began with words of acknowledgment of Kosovo’s progress since its unilateral declaration of independence in February last year, stating that “in the year and a half since declaring …

The Croatian-Slovenian border dispute must be resolved bilaterally by the countries concerned, according to the future president of the European Union, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. “This is a bilateral dispute and a solution lies with those countries,” Bildt said in Brussels. “It is time for them to reflect and …

The Croatian Foreign Ministry has summoned home the country’s ambassador to the United Nations on suspicion that he used his diplomatic benefits for personal gain. Croatian Ambassador to the UN Neven Jurica, who took office in early 2008, is suspected of having embezzled several hundred thousand dollars worth of taxpayers’ …

„Perseverenţa cu care în ultima perioadă este atacată această realizare supremă a poporului nostru [statalitatea, n. n.] determină clar preocuparea fundamentală a Guvernului ţării” (Programul Guvernului Greceanâi II) Există şi vor exista multe diversiuni în campania electorală care a început deja la Chişinău: calomnii, atacuri la persoană, lansarea unor candidaţi …

The current global financial crisis couples with the perennial instability of the Balkans, and raises suspicions around the creation of much stronger organized crime groups that will be able to dictate their rules of the game to both local governments and international institutions. Already a trend emerges which has not …

Water management is attracting the attention of businessmen in Greece, especially when it is related to the water cycle and energy production. Dams, water transmission pipelines, water depots, and seawater desalination plants are all included in the five-year plan that the Karamanlis administration has relayed recently to the press, as …

Regarding Kosovo’s prospects Ahtisaari noted that utilising its vast lignite reserves the country could become an energy production centre of the region. Budapest – Kosovo could become a regional centre for energy production, which could help the country tackle political problems, former UN Special Envoy for the Kosovo status process …