Eurasia

TEHRAN (FNA)- Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov described Iran as an important partner of his country in the region and the world, saying Minsk is ready to increase its all-out relations with Tehran. Martynov made the remarks in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki who was …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The vice chairman of Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said his country could not limit its output under OPEC-style quotas. “The mechanism of OPEC couldn’t be applicable straight-forwardly to the Russian Federation,” AFP quoted Alexander Medvedev as saying in a press conference in Paris on Friday. “We are …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Belarus agreed to establish a joint economic commission in a bid to further expand relations. The decision was made during a Thursday meeting in Minsk between Belarusian Prime Minister Sergey Sidorskiy and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who arrived in the Belarusian capital the same day …

Dismayed by the parliamentary speaker’s decision to prolong Monday’s session, opposition lawmakers spent four hours citing breaches in the parliamentary code instead of debating laws. The session ended at 0200 in the morning on Tuesday, with little ground being covered in the debates needed for a set of important judiciary …

Corruption in Bosnia is of “humongous proportions” and the governments’ anti-corruption efforts are “disappointing,” the top international envoy to Sarajevo has said. Bosnia’s High Representative Miroslav Lajcak has said that all aspects of corruption – including bribery, fraud, nepotism, tax evasion and all others – are present in the country.

The chief of Slovenia’s Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission says Ljubljana may review its policy on the thousands of ex-residents who were refused Slovene citizenship after 1991. Ivo Vajgl said the so-called ‘erased people’ would receive documents and be compensated.

Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin has been cited as saying by his country’s state-owned news agency, that he wants good relations with often tense neighbour, Romania. “We have absolutely nothing against the Romanian people and state. Romania is our neighbour, a member of the European Union. That is why, it would …

Slovenia’s government is postponing donations worth €500,000 to Kosovo planned for this year, Belgrade’s Beta news agency reports. The exact reason for the postponement is not known although the money will be handed over to Pristina authorities next year.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari says Serbia must recognise past wrongs in its relationship with Kosovo before it is ready to join the European Union. The former Kosovo envoy says the Serbs “have to be able to live with their past.”

The ethnic Greek mayor of the Albanian southern town of Himara has come under harsh criticism after asking Greece not to ratify a key deal seen as a vital step in Albania’s EU bid. According to a memo leaked to the local media, the mayor, Vasil Bollano, who is also …