After the Parliament declares a seat of MP vacant, the Central Election Commission (CEC) has ten days to examines the substitute candidate on the list. Within 30 day of the declaration of the seat vacant, the Constitutional Court confirms the next candidate proposed by the CEC. 

Croatia will hold the first round of presidential elections on December 27, officials said on Friday. If none of the candidates garners more than 50 percent of the vote, the runoff election will be held on January 10, 2010. The incumbent President Stjepan Mesic’s term in office expires in early …

Higher education will become more accessible for Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia. Relevant amendments will be made to the Law on Higher Education. The bill, which was initiated by the government, has been already introduced to the Parliament. It aims to promote integration of Georgian citizens of Armenian and Azerbaijani …

Danube Bridge toll fees should be reduced, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Rosen Plevneliev told PMs on Friday, 30 October, adding he had sent a letter of request to the mayor of Ruse. The transit fees between Bulgaria’s Ruse and Romania’s Giurgiu are one of the highest in …

Former Serb army commander Predrag Kujundzic was convicted of crimes against humanity including murder and rape by Bosnia’s war crimes court on Friday and sentenced to 22 years in jail. Judge Saban Maksumic said the court found Kujundzic, 48, guilty of “committing and coercing sexual slavery, rape, severe deprivation of …

The EU and US remain committed to ending the political gridlock in Bosnia, despite the apparent failure of their joint diplomatic initiative earlier this month, officials said. EU and US representatives moved to dispel fears that they were abandoning talks on Bosnia’s future, saying that their senior technical experts were …

Macedonian Premier Nikola Gruevski held a short informal meeting with his new Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, on Thursday in Brussels, the first between leaders of the two countries in several years. Both prime ministers avoided journalists after the 20-minute discussion, which was held on the sidelines of the EU Council …

An IMF delegation and the Serbian government have reached an agreement on Serbia’s state budget for next year. Broadcaster RTS reports that there will be no increase in VAT and that the projected budget deficit will be 4 per cent, half a per cent lower than for this year.

The chair of Serbia’s council for cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, Rasim Ljajic, does not know whether Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz will say that Serbia is fully cooperating with the court. Brammertz will visit Serbia next Wednesday to discuss Serbia’s cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former …

FM Vuk Jeremić says he believes that the chief Hague prosecutor will confirm Serbia’s full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal in his report to the UN SC. He said that Serbian officials will have “detailed meetings” with Serge Brammertz, who is due here on Nov. 4 for a working visit, …