Goran Lazić of the Independent Liberal Party (SLS) was named the assembly speaker in Gračanica at the assembly’s constitutive session. Lazić receive 14 votes from officials elected during the local elections in Kosovo held on November 15, organized by the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština. Ignored in the northern, Serb-dominated …

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has wished his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko a Happy New Year, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. “Constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries in the spirit of a centuries-old tradition of friendship responds to interests of both Russians and Ukrainians,” Medvedev said in his message.

Kosovo’s parliament approved the national budget for 2010 amid heightened tension and bickering. Opposition parties strongly objected the budget, saying the partisanship affects government spending decisions. They left the session in a protest of overdue presentation of budget-related papers.