Eurasia

TIRANA, Albania About 60 tonnes of crude oil was dumped into a channel that connects the coast of Vlora with the Ionian Sea, causing significant environmental damage, police said Wednesday (June 3rd). Three people were arrested, including the head of the Arkand Junior company. Investigators say the material was intentionally …

VIENNA Russia defended its military buildup in Georgia’s breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Thursday, disputing claims it is violating cease-fire agreements. Earlier this week, Georgia officials in Washington warned that Russia has been building military bases, storage facilities for supplies and roads in the regions since the …

BAGHDAD Romanian President Traian Basescu arrived in Thi Qar Province on Thursday, on his first official visit to Iraq. A knowledgeable source in the province told KUNA that the president arrived at Tulail Military Base, western Thi Qar, to attend the ceremony marking the withdrawal of Romanian troops stationed there.

SOFIA. There is no reason for panic and concern over the next weeks, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Mutafchiev said in reference to the risks for new gas crisis. There are more than 500 mln m3 of gas in Chiren gas depot. We can supply the country with 4 mln …

Belgrade’s Blic daily newspaper reveals the personal insights and damning details of the diary of Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic, which has been handed over to the Hague Tribunal. Blic daily was apprised of some of the content of the diary by unnamed sources and published those insights on …

Top Bosnian Serb political parties have snubbed an ultimatum issued by the country’s top western envoy, High Representative Valentin Inzko, inviting him instead to address the Bosnian Serb Assembly to explain his demands. The move is seen as a further unfortunate but expected escalation of relations between the Bosnian Serb …

European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot will unveil a report today in Luxembourg on the on the status of Western Balkan countries’ readiness for EU visa liberalisation at a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers. An official from the current Czech EU presidency told media that though the report …

USAID, says that the process of distributing new identity documents to voters ahead of June 28 elections is problematic. About 760,000 of Albania’s three million citizens do not have passports, and will be allowed to cast ballots in the upcoming elections only upon obtaining a new identity card. 

Macedonia’s top political parties – the ruling centre-right VMRO DPMNE and the opposition Social-Democrats – have condemned Tuesday’s incident in Athens, Greece in which ultra-nationalists stormed the promotion of a Greek-Macedonian dictionary. The parties urged Athens and Brussels to condemn the incident and find the perpetrators. Macedonian government spokesman Sefket …

Veteran Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin failed on Wednesday to secure parliament’s election of a compliant ally as his successor who would have allowed him to continue running the country behind the scenes. Voronin’s plan to win parliamentary support for fellow Communist Zinaida Greceanii came unstuck when opposition parties torpedoed the …