Eurasia

BELGRADE, Serbia – It is unlikely that Serbia can start EU accession talks this year, the head of the European Commission (EC) Delegation to Belgrade, Josep Lloveras, said on Friday (March 27th). Overall, the process required to start those talks could last around 10-12 months, so it is practically impossible …

MADRID, Spain – Spanish police have detained a alleged senior official of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), authorities announced on Friday (March 27th). The suspect is Remzi Kartal, a former lawmaker from Turkey’s disbanded Democracy Party (DEP) and allegedly a former PKK commander. He was apprehended last Monday in …

VATICAN CITY – Cypriot President Demetris Christofias met on Friday (March 27th) with Pope Benedict XVI as part of his four-day visit to the Holy See. Benedict XVI said he hopes the direct reunification talks between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will “bear fruit”. The Cypriot president …

ATHENS, Greece – Groups of anarchist youths clashed with police during street riots in Athens and the second largest city, Thessaloniki, early on Saturday (March 28th). Hooded youths attacked department stores in Thessaloniki to protest against the arrest of two of their associates. The group also set fire to a …

Voting kicked off slowly in the early hours of Montenegro’s snap parliamentary elections, the CDT polling agency says as Montenegrins vote for a government to take them towards the EU and counter effects of the global crisis. Some 7 per cent of roughly 500,000 registered voters had cast their ballots …

The global financial crisis could lead to staff cuts in international missions operating in Kosovo and may mean more power devolving to local authorities. Kosovo’s authorities will exercise more power as international missions shrink in size under the impact of the global economical downturn, experts say. The latest example comes …

The US ambassador to Greece, Daniel Speckhard voiced hope that the burning Athens-Skopje name row will be solved in 2010, local media reported on Friday. Ambassador Speckhard noted this in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center, on the theme “Resilience and Transition: Resetting US- Greece Relations,” the local Makfax …

Romanian Foreign Minister, Cristian Diaconescu, on Friday said he is “concerned and worried” due to the situation of Romanian nationals, who are “systematically” denied access to neighboring Moldova. “I have requested an explanation from the Moldovan Foreign Ministry regarding the reasons why Romanian nationals are systematically denied access to Moldova. …

The Hague Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is due to meet Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic on the second day of his trip to Belgrade. Brammertz arrived in Serbia on Thursday and met Serbian President Boris Tadic, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic and the President of the National Council for …

Slovenia announced Thursday that it will introduce one-week motorway stickers, following criticism from Brussels that the longer-term passes discriminated against foreign visitors. “The government will propose amending the current law on roads in order to introduce seven-day vignettes at a price of €15,” Transport Minister Patrick Vlacic told journalists.