Eurasia

MOSCOW, April 24 The upcoming NATO military drills in Georgia will help increase the Georgian army’s combat preparedness and interoperability with the alliance, Deputy Prime Minister Georgi Baramidze said Friday. “These will be mainly command post exercises. Of course, hardware will be used, but not tanks or long-range artillery,” Russia’s …

TBILISI, April 24 A crowd of opposition activists gathered outside a restaurant where President Mikheil Saakashvili was eating, forcing him to abandon his dinner, as protests continued on the streets of Tbilisi. The incident on Thursday evening came hours after opposition leaders pledged to block the president’s movements in the …

CHISINAU, April 24 The EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will arrive in Moldova on Friday as part of a working visit following the recent riots in the country, a spokesman for Moldova’s Foreign Ministry said. During the visit, Solana is scheduled to meet with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin to …

Romania yesterday criticised the European Union’s policy towards Moldova, calling for a tougher line on human rights abuses arising from the crisis-hit country’s recent political turmoil. Cristian Diaconescu, foreign minister, said there should be no talk of “business as usual” with Moldova while it was infringing EU values and so …

BUCHAREST, Romania Former King Michael of Romania took the unusual step on Thursday of endorsing his son-in-law as a candidate in the country’s next presidential election. In a speech from Elizabeth Palace, Michael acknowledged that supporting a relative for public office was not a “normal thing for a member of …

Bulgaria European Affairs Minister, Gergana Passy, has voiced her support for Macedonia’s EU integration. Passy said that Bulgaria is ready to help Macedonia on its Euro-integration path and considers that Macedonian authorities have made significant progress in this regard, after Wednesday’s meeting with Macedonian Deputy PM and European Affairs Minister …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has confirmed that Russia PM Vladimir Putin will not be visiting the Sofia Energy summit because of differences in opinion over energy issues. Parvanov stated Thursday, in an interview for Bulgarian daily newspaper 24 Chasa, that Putin will not be coming to the forum due to …

Montenegro has been blocking the entrance of Kosovo exports into the country, because of their customs stamps which read the ‘Republic of Kosovo’. Even though Montenegro has recognized Kosovo’s independence, Customs officials at the border have been turning away exports, confirmed the head of Kosovo’s Economic Chamber, Besim Beqaj, to …

There are currently 19 Serbian soldiers participating in UN peacekeeping activities and missions around the world, according to Danas Daily. There are 13 officers from the Defense Ministry, and 6 officers from the Interior Ministry currently working in missions in the Congo, Liberia and the Ivory Coast, while a another …

The United States President, Barack Obama, sent a letter of congratulations to Macedonian President elect, Georgi Ivanov, Macedonia’s ruling party VMRO DPMNE quoted Thursday. In the letter, Obama expressed thanks to the country for its participation in the peacekeeping missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I am looking forward with great …