Eurasia

New financial leasing contracts in Bulgaria continued to dwindle in the final quarter of the year, totalling 936 million leva, down 15% from the three months before, showed central bank data. As the financial meltdown began to make its way into the Bulgarian economy, the sector started to lose momentum …

Thousands of Albanians took to the streets with flags and banners to celebrate the first anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence on Tuesday, but excitement was dampened by the realisation that the secession from Serbia was not a quick fix to the nation’s many problems. Car horns, traditional music and …

While Kosovo’s Albanians celebrated the one-year anniversary of their declaration of independence on Tuesday, Serb and Kosovo Serb politicians gathered defiantly in the northern Kosovo town of Zvecan on Tuesday to proclaim their rejection of the secession and flaunt Belgrade’s reach in Serb-controlled parts of Kosovo where Pristina has no …

Kosovo’s parliament held a special session on the first anniversary of its declaration of independence on Tuesday, with senior leaders conveying their wishes for the future and promising that the coming years will be more productive and positive. “Our first year was a year of proud for Kosovo,” said Prime …

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday, exactly a year after Kosovo seceded from Serbia, to speak about Kosovo and to inform him of Belgrade’s expectation that the six-point plan will be implemented in full as approved by the Security Council.. Serbian Foreign …

NATO is concerned about the possibility of Slovenia holding a referendum on Croatia’s membership in the alliance, worried both about delays and a vote denying their neighbour NATO accession. Two Slovenian nationalist groups on Monday initiated a referendum on Zagreb’s accession to NATO, saying Croatia should not join the alliance …

Kosovo is not an independent state despite seceding from Serbia a year ago, Serbia’s President Boris Tadic told AFP in an interview For Serbia, the Feb. 17 anniversary is “a day when the authorities in Pristina declared the independence of Kosovo in an illegal way, based on international law,” Tadic …

ll the artifacts used in a Macedonian tourism promotion campaign were dug up in Macedonia, the makers of the video said after local media reported that Athens will launch a protest over Skopje’s use of ancient Greek artifacts. Local media previously reported that Athens plans to send protest letters to …

Moderate Kosovo Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic said the Serbian minority in Kosovo would ignore the February 17 celebrations of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, as it did not recognise the secession from Serbia. “No doubt Albanians will celebrate Feb. 17, but, regarding the Serbian community, we will ignore it just like …

Kosovo’s first year of independence has been successful, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci said on the eve of the first anniversary of the secession from Serbia, adding that Kosovo will in the end be a full member of the European Union and NATO. Kosovo declared independende on February 17, 2008 …