ZAGREB, Croatia Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor confirmed on Wednesday (July 22nd) that the cabinet plans to introduce a temporary tax to boost budget revenues during the economic crisis. The rate will be 5-6%, down from 8% as initially proposed. The new tax on salaries and pensions would take effect next …

TIRANA, Albania The government plans to target less developed regions of the country, particularly in the northeast and southeast, to help low income residents there. At a meeting Wednesday (July 22nd), Prime Minister Sali Berisha instructed his cabinet to prepare a package of assistance measures within a month, aimed at …

TIRANA, Albania Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Sunday (July 19th) said the future government’s goal will be to bring the country closer to EU membership. Berisha said the coalition between his Democratic Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration will focus on pro-EU reforms, and expanding human rights and citizen …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) High Representative Valentin Inzko says the so-called Prud process of dialogue among leaders of the three main political parties is basically dead, and is now a process involving more parties, local media reported on Sunday (July 19th). In an interview with Sarajevo-based OBN TV, Inzko …

NICOSIA, Cyprus Greek Cypriots are refusing to speed up negotiations to reunify the island and won’t until the international community exerts pressure on them, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told a press conference Saturday (July 18th). While Turkey is actively supporting ongoing efforts to find a solution to the …

ATHENS, Greece Athens and Nicosia have reacted sharply to Turkey’s decision authorising the Turkish Petroleum Corporation to launch an oil exploration project in the Mediterranean Sea, Greek media reported on Monday (July 20th). Last week, Ankara announced that a Turkish vessel will start exploring hydrocarbon resources in four areas off …

ATHENS, Greece The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday (July 17th) it is suspending its participation in advisory committees examining asylum requests in Greece to protest newly adopted rules on granting asylum.

A year after the wartime president of Republika Srpska was arrested, war victims and legal analysts in Bosnia say it is high time for his trial to begin. Exactly one year since the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in Belgrade, it is still unknown when his trial, considered by many as …

According to the latest survey done by the US-based International Republican Institute, IRI, Macedonian citizens, on average, give their country 6.2 years to enter the European Union. Therefore, they expect Macedonia to enter the EU sometime in 2015.Public support for Macedonia’s NATO entrance remains high at around 93 percent, the …

Civilian possession of illicit weapons remains a serious problem in Kosovo and the region, Saferworld said in a press conference in Pristina on Tuesday. According to a new Saferworld report, around 350,000 illicit small arms and light weapons remain in private possession in households across the country. Kosovo is currently …