Eurasia

A commemorative service was held in Stuttgart on Friday for Denis Puljic, whose life was taken by Tim Kretschmer in a massacre. A commemorative service was held in Stuttgart on Friday for Denis Puljic, a Croat whose life was taken by 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer at the end of his massacre …

Kremlin is increasingly concerned about possible social turmoil and Medvedev has called for a more flexible political system. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev invited local lawmakers in unusual remarks on Friday to criticise the government’s handling of the deepening economic crisis. “It’s clear that discussions are possible and even necessary on …

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier, during a meeting with his Slovak counterpart, said that “he’s positively impressed with the Kosovo developments”, adding that “the country has many other challenges ahead.” Steinmier made these comments after the meeting with the Slovakia Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.

Croatia would continue bringing its legislation into line with the European Union in order to enter the pan-Europe bloc by 2011, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Friday. Speaking after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Kinga Goencz, Jandrokovic said that Slovenia should not block Croatia’s …

SARAJEVO – Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko was named as Bosnia’s new peace envoy on Friday, with the task of managing tensions between Muslims, Croats and Serbs and speeding up the country’s integration into Europe. The Peace Implementation Council (PIC), the international body that overseas Bosnia’s peace process, said Inzko would …

MOSCOW – The Kazakh president’s idea for a unified currency for payments between states in the Eurasian Economic Community will be examined and could go forward, Russia’s foreign minister said on Saturday. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s suggestion would not mean replacing national currencies with an equivalent of the euro, but would …

MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered his condolences on Saturday to the families of the Russian tourists involved in a bus crash in Vietnam that killed at least 15 people, his spokeswoman said. Natalya Timakova also told journalists that the president had ordered Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to …

TBILISI  – About 7,000 Georgians rallied in the capital Friday to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstration was a warm-up for a day of protest on April 9 planned by opposition groups who blame Saakashvili for the disastrous war with Russia last August and for failing to …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has stated his support for Moldova achieving “European integration” late Thursday at the start of his two day official state visit to the country, after meeting with his Moldavian counterpart Vladimir Voronin. At a joint press conference Parvanov was clear in his support for Moldova’s European …

Representatives of 12 Bulgarian Orthodox Churches have supported the Patriarch Maxim, calling on the Bulgarian government to stand united with the Church in appealing against a recent decision made by the European Court of Human Rights. The court gave its backing to the Inokentii synod in their bid for independence …