Eurasia

EU foreign ministers discussed plans for the final closure of the EU’s peacekeeping mission, EUFOR, in Bosnia, citing a stable security situation in the country. At a regular monthly meeting in Brussels on Monday foreign ministers agreed to move ahead with plans for EUFOR’s transition to “a non-executive capacity-building and …

ZAGREB, Croatia The senior ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its coalition partners managed to win the most votes in 14 counties in Sunday’s (May 17th) local elections. Preliminary results from the State Electoral Commission suggest the leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), claimed victory in five counties, …

TIRANA, Albania The country has not done enough to meet the requirements for abolishing the visa regime with the EU, local media reported on Sunday (May 17th), citing a report by the European Commission. The document officially appears on Monday.

PRISTINA, Kosovo The government will soon present an EU partnership plan to guarantee smoother integration, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told a cabinet meeting Friday (May 15th). He added that the government, local institutions and the public must share a commitment to EU integration and treat it as a high priority. …

NICOSIA, Cyprus Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said on Friday (May 15th) Nicosia does not intend to veto Turkey’s EU accession process, “either on its own or with another country”.

NKARA, Turkey Tens of thousands of people marched in Ankara on Sunday (May 17th) in support of secularism and against the scores of recent arrests stemming from the controversial Ergenekon probe.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Security Minister Tarik Sadovic has asked the local Interpol office to contact the international police organisation’s headquarters in Lyon and ask it to withdraw arrest warrants issued for several people from BiH, local media reported on Sunday (May 17th). Serbia had confirmed on Saturday that …

BUCHAREST, Romania The National Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office indicted Radu Timofte, former chief of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), on charges of fraud and forgery, media reported. The charges Friday (May 15th) stem from the purchase of an apartment from the country’s state protocol authority (RA-APPS). Prosecutors say Timofte failed to …

The leader of the ruling ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia has called on the government to focus on efforts to find a solution to the ongoing name row with Greece. Ali Ahmeti, leader of the Democratic Union for Integration, on Sunday also warned the government against stirring up tensions between …

The President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, is visiting Serbia in what is seen as a move by both sides to improve relations between the two countries. Vujanovic will meet his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic. It is their first meeting after Serbia expelled Podgorica’s ambassador last year in objection to Montenegro’s …