Eurasia

Twelve Turkish municipalities have severed ties with their Bulgarian sister cities, because the latter have classified the deaths of hundred of thousands of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as genocide, Bulgarian National Radio said, citing Turkish-language newspaper Hürriyet.

The recognition of Kosovo’s independence by the Maldives has created a furore in this small chain of Indian Ocean islands. After a good of lobbying by Kosovo politicians, the Maldives recognised the country on February 19. But just two weeks on, President Mohamed Nasheed has ordered police to investigate allegations …

Russians aged under 18 will get free tourist visas for Bulgaria when making group visits, the Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Milen Keremedchiev was quoted as saying by Focus news agency on Thursday. Teachers accompanying the groups will also get a free visa provided there is one teacher for every 15 …

Austrian diplomat is now all but certain to become the international community’s representative. An Austrian diplomat, Valentin Inzko, has been appointed to be the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the United States government dropped its opposition. The appointment was made by EU member states in …

BAKU, March 12 – Russia’s foreign minister told his Azerbaijani counterpart on Thursday that Russia wants to continue using the Gabala early-warning radar after the current lease expires in 2012. “Russia is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in using the Gabala radar station, and will seek appropriate agreements with our …

Brussels – The European Union should be ready to keep some 250 observers in Georgia’s war-torn areas far beyond the autumn as Russia is blocking other international missions, the head of the EU observation team warned Thursday. At a meeting with EU ambassadors on Wednesday, Haber “recommended that the EU …

Podgorica. Montenegro might apply for an International Monetary Fund /IMF/ loan provided that the country’s economic growth is between 2.5% and 0% in 2009, which is below the previous forecast of 5%, said Minister of Finance Igor Luksic. “We are nearing a very low economic growth of between 0% and …

Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expressed his support for EU enlargement by the Western Balkans countries during a March 10 2009 visit to Macedonia. “You have a graduation ahead of you in the form of elections,” Topolanek said in …

International Press Institute (IPI) director David Dadge met European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and other EC officials on March 9 2009 to call on the EC to make press freedom a priority in EU membership talks with Turkey. In a media statement, the IPI said that the appeal was made …

The announcement by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton that president Barack Obama is to visit Turkey in the next month or so sparked indignation among Greek media and prompted the country’s main opposition party to attack prime minister Costas Karamanlis government’s foreign policy as “inept and irresolute”. On March …