Eurasia

The US ambassador to Albania in an impassioned speech on Wednesday harshly attacked attempts by politicians to exert pressure on prosecutors, robustly upholding the profession’s independence. At a ceremony marking the expansion of joint-investigation units commended for fighting economic crime in the last two years, John L. Withers emphasised that …

A recent survey shows that Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov’s party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, GERB has the support of 23 to 24 per cent of Bulgarians intending to vote in the June 7 elections for European Parliament. The senior partner in the tri-partite ruling coalition, the Bulgarian …

Kosovo officials say their country has gained enough votes to join the International Monetary Fund, IMF, an important step in the country’s efforts to secure both global recognition and international aid. Kosovo’s government has said that a vote at the body by more than half the IMF’s member states had …

Opposition parties and independent economists have panned Tirana’s centre-right government for acting ”irresponsibly” by accepting what they say is an exorbitantly high interest rate on a commercial loan to finance the Albania-Kosovo highway. “The government has indebted its citizens in order to finance its pre-electoral spending,” former Minister of Finance …

Current proposal of European Union expansion commissioner Olli Rehn is acceptable in principle, but Slovenia will provide its amendments to it, so that it is more balanced, said the spokesperson of Slovene Foreign Affairs Ministry Milan Balazic on Wednesday. Talking at a press conference a few hours before Slovene PM …

ZAGREB, Croatia The government will accept EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s latest proposal on resolving the border conflict with Slovenia, leaders decided during a high-level meeting Tuesday (May 5th). Rehn suggests that a five-member panel of arbitrators decide the issue.

NICOSIA, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed on Tuesday (May 5th) to intensify talks aimed at reunifying the divided island, UN Special Representative in Cyprus Taye-Brook Zerihoun said. He explained the two leaders discussed progress achieved so far and decided to speed up the …

PRISTINA, Kosovo The leader of Kosovo’s Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement, Albin Kurti, was held briefly at the Blace border point between Kosovo and Macedonia late Tuesday (May 5th).

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Appeals Chamber at the BiH court on Tuesday (May 5th) ruled that Mirko Pekez and Milorad Savic should spend 14 and 21 years in prison, respectively, for war crimes against Bosniak civilians in 1992. It found them guilty of killing 23 Bosniaks — most …

PARIS, France President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday (May 5th) the EU should create a common economic and security space with Turkey as an alternative to Turkey’s membership in the Union, media reported.