RUSSIA Slovakian Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak will meet on Monday in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss bilateral relations and issues of security and cooperation in Europe, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Andrei Nesterenko said that besides bilateral relations the foreign ministers are expected …

GREECE Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has kicked off his campaign to win against the odds in a October 4 snap election by promising painful spending cuts, in the teeth of union opposition. In an annual economic keynote speech, the outgoing conservative leader vowed that if he won his third …

RUSSIA The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, who arrived with an official visit to Russia last week, is heading on Monday to Russia’s North Caucasus republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Thomas Hammarberg will visit Chechnya and Ingushetia to meet with the presidents of both republics and heads of …