BULGARIA Bulgaria is ready to buy 2.5 m2 of natural gas from Turkmenistan, said Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov after official ceremony on signing three documents between Bulgaria and Turkmenistan. Bulgarian head of state said this is an expression of gratitude towards Turkmenistan over the assessment Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow gave …

RUSSIA Russia has vowed to defend the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a year after acknowledging their independence from Georgia. On Wednesday, people celebrated public holidays in the separatist regions to mark the anniversary. The event coincided with the opening of 160Km natural gas pipeline linking Russia directly …

GEORGIA Georgia on Thursday protested plans by its breakaway Abkhazia region to transfer control of the railway in the Black Sea territory to Russia, a move it said amounted to “robbery.” Abkhazia says the Russian railway authority will provide “reconstruction and rehabilitation” for the stretch of line running along the …

MOLDOVA The Second Greceanyi Government Wednesday offered its resignation as its term in office expired. The new Parliament is to take cognizance of the resignation at its first sitting scheduled for August 28. Until a new cabinet is named, the executive will manage the public affairs, but will make no …

MOLDOVA The president of the Liberal Democratic Party (PDM) Marian Lupu said Wednesday that the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) has not yet decided how to distribute the key posts in the state. “The discussions go on,” Marian Lupu said. Making reference to reliable sources in the AEI, the press …

BiH Bosnian police arrested two Bosnian Serbs on Thursday, including a police officer, suspected of taking part in the massacre of about 200 Muslims and Croats in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, the state prosecutor’s office said. Branko Topola, 41, was arrested in a police station in the northwestern town of …

SERBIA The Serbian government has proposed a 10 per cent cut in the number of public sector employees in talks with an IMF delegation, daily Blic reports. The measure is intended to cover the budget deficit, which is now equivalent to 4.5 per cent of GDP Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic …

MACEDONIA Macedonia’s ongoing industrial output contraction plumbed new depths in July, the State Statistical Office revealed. A record near 20 per cent output plunge was registered, when compared to July 2008. This is the tenth month in a row that industrial output has shrunk. Macedonia’s flagship metal industry was the …

BiH Bosnia’s Federation entity is preparing to privatise around 30 public companies over the next year, local media reported on Thursday. “Privatisation fever shakes the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” columnist Faruk Vele wrote in a piece published in influential Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz on Thursday. Authorities in the Croat-Bosniak …

KOSOVO The rebuilding of Kosovo Albanian homes in north Mitrovica was again delayed on Wednesday, when Serb members of Kosovo’s Police and EU rule of law mission, EULEX, officials prevented workers from entering the construction site. The Krou I Vitakut/Brdjani neighbourhood of Mitrovica has seen repeated violence since Kosovo Albanians …