A government campaign against Islamic education and political movements in Tajikistan, prompted by an armed conflict with ’mujaheds’ in the Rasht valley, risks creating the very militancy it aims to prevent, write Sophie Roche and John Heathershaw for openDemocracy. In earlier articles for opendemocracy, we wrote of the armed conflict …

Czech President Vaclav Klaus is visiting Belgrade today, where he will receive a charter of his acceptance into the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU). Upon his arrival in Belgrade, Klaus first conferred with Serbian President Boris Tadić, who will also attend the ceremony at the SANU. The Czech …

Romania is better prepared and in superior position than Bulgaria in terms of Schengen area accession, Hungarian interior minister Sandor Pinter said. Following a meeting of experts held in Brussels on January 14 on the state of preparedness of Romania and Bulgaria, it was said that Pinter said that “Bulgaria …

Bulgaria would support the development of the Nabucco gas pipeline by issuing state guarantees for loans taken by state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) to fund the project,  Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov said in Parliament on January 20 2011.

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic on Wednesday started an official visit to Germany with a meeting with the country’s parliament speaker, who expressed full support for Croatia’s efforts to join the EU. The Bundestag speaker acknowledged the reforms in Croatia and the two men discussed the fight against corruption, Josipovic said. …

The new Montenegrin Premier Igor Luksic will arrive in Belgrade today to meet with top officials. This is not an official visit, but Luksic will use the opportunity to hold informal meetings with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said during his meeting with Republic of Srpska President Milorad Dodik that the economic situation was unlikely to improve significantly in 2011.

The World Bank, together with the IMF and the European Commission (EC), will sign a new agreement, most likely for two years, to provide Romania with financing and technical assistance, Peter Harrold, the Bank’s

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly invited BiH political leaders for talks in Berlin in an attempt to overcome the deadlock in forming the new

Romania wants a decision to be made on its Schengen entry bid during the first half of 2011, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said. Baconschi said that Romania’s goal is to see a decision on Schengen accession in the first half of the year. “We have done our