Eurasia

Greek lawmakers will vote on Monday on whether to investigate a former minister’s possible connection to a shipping scandal, in a move that could threaten the government’s one-seat majority. A Greek shipowner has accused an aide of former Aegean Minister Aristotle Pavlides of seeking bribes in exchange for subsidised ferry …

Up to 20,000 protesters gathered in the Ukrainian capital on Friday to hear the opposition leader demand the resignations of the ex-Soviet state’s leaders for failing to tackle the economic crisis. President Viktor Yushchenko said he was prepared to consider early elections for both president and parliament, two days after …

ANKARA, Turkey – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday (April 4th) that Turkey approved the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO’s new secretary-general after US President Barack Obama addressed Ankara’s concerns.

ANKARA, Turkey – Two people died and nine were injured in clashes between Kurdish protestors and police in southeast Turkey on Saturday (April 4th). It happened during a rally organised to mark terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan’s 60th birthday. Demonstrators threw stones at police who tried to …

ANKARA, Turkey – Romania and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in Istanbul on Friday (April 3rd) regarding Romania’s participation in the Black Sea naval operation Harmony. The two countries will take part in the exercises, along with Ukraine and Russia. Black Sea Harmony is an initiative launched by Turkey …

ZAGREB, Croatia – Police announced on Saturday (April 4th) that they have busted a group that trafficked people from Asia, the Middle East and the former Yugoslav republics to EU countries. The investigation was a joint one involving the police services of Slovenia, Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At a …

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands – The Hague war crimes tribunal on Friday (April 3rd) rejected a request by lawyers representing Croatian generals Ante Govotina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac to drop charges stemming from 1995’s Operation Storm.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – Central Bank Governor Kemal Kozaric says that since BiH has a 200m-euro quota in the IMF, the country can request up to 1 billion euros an assistance. Speaking on Friday (April 3rd), he acknowledged that BiH will slip into recession this year, since the …

NICOSIA, Cyprus – UN Special Representative in Cyprus Taye Brook Zerihoun said on Friday (April 3rd) that concrete efforts should be made to establish a mine-free buffer zone by 2011.

NATO leaders have agreed to re-start direct talks with Russia, while simultaneously condemning the country’s military build-up in Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. “Despite our current disagreements, Russia is of particular importance to us as a partner and neighbour,” NATO heads of state and government said in …