Eurasia

Turkey’s EU negotiator said on Friday Ankara would push ahead with long-delayed reforms to join the bloc, including on tax and amending the constitution, now the country has a two to three year period without elections. Turkey began accession talks in 2005, but progress has been slow. The European Union …

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday he was pleased with the prospects offered by a European Union summit with six ex-Soviet republics even though he stayed away from the event. “Judging from the information I received, things ended up as we thought,” Lukashenko, quoted by the official BELTA news …

Although Croatia has adopted the proposal of European Union expansion commissioner Olli Rehn on resolving the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, an agreement cannot be reached without Slovenia, which has still not submitted its official response to the European Commission. Slovene Foreign Affairs Minster Samuel Zbogar said that Rehn …

Loyalty to a common historical heritage could help mend ties between ex-Soviet Georgia and Russia damaged by a brief war last August, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Georgian World War Two veterans on Friday. In a special message to the veterans, Medvedev recalled the Soviet Union’s role during the war …

BRUSSELS, Belgium EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on Thursday (May 7th) urged all member states to complete the process of enlargement and accept Southeast European countries within their ranks.

ANKARA, Turkey Since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government announced a draft amending 20 articles of the constitution a few weeks ago, President Abdullah Gul has met with leaders of opposition parties, trying to convince them of the need for change.

BELGRADE, Serbia Kosovo would have to assume the servicing of more than $1 billion in foreign debt if it gains admission to the IMF and the World Bank, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic said Thursday (May 7th).

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) EUFOR troops on Friday (May 8th) searched the homes of two relatives of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic. Authorities say the searches, in the in the town Bijeljina, involved the homes of relatives Rajko and Radoslav Banduka. Rajko Banduka is also a former military associate …

ZAGREB, Croatia Parliament member Branimir Glavas received a ten-year prison sentence on Friday (May 8th) for war crimes committed against Serb civilians during Croatia’s war of independence in the early 1990s.

PODGORICA, Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic formally proposed that incumbent Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic serve a sixth term Thursday (May 7th). According to Vujanovic, Djukanovic is the best person to lead Montenegro through the economic crisis and guide it to its ultimate goal of EU membership. The coalition led by Djukanovic’s …