The Prosecutor-General`s main investigative unit said it was investigating the murder. An adviser to a deputy speaker of Russia’s parliament was found dead on Thursday in his Moscow flat with multiple stab wounds, Interfax news agency reported, citing the police. Police discovered the body of Alexei Belyaev, an advisor to …

The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has suggested that Bulgaria could receive EUR 500 M from preliminary payments through European Programs to help the country through the financial crisis, Bulgarian National Radio reported late Thursday. Barroso’s announcement came after a meeting with Bulgarian PM Sergey Stanishev who …

Zagreb,  – Turkey, Italy and Hungary reiterated Thursday their support of Macedonia’s accession to NATO at meetings with Defense Minister Zoran Konjanovski. At the sidelines of enlarged Southeast European Defence Ministerial of the countries from the US-Adriatic Charter in Zagreb, Konjanovski held bilateral talks with his Turkish, Hungarian counterparts Vecdi …

Albania’s finance ministry said on Thursday it would borrow 250 million euros (315 million US dollars) from two foreign banks to cover its budget deficit. The ministry said in a statement it chose Deutsche Bank and Greece’s Alpha Bank for the loan from seven bidders who offered to lend the …

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn urged Slovenia and Croatia on Thursday to accept the European Union’s mediation in their border row, warning it was the only way to end their 18-year-old feud. “I expect from both countries a positive response,” Rehn told journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of European …

(BELGRADE) – A Serbian government decision to withdraw a draft parliamentary anti-discrimination bill at the request of religious authorities has sparked outrage, local media reported Thursday. The draft, passed by the government last month, was unexpectedly withdrown from the statute book late on Wednesday, a day before the begining of …

Major archaeological excavations have started at four ancient sites around Macedonia, namely at the sites of Heraklea Lynkestis, Skopje’s Kale Fortress, Stobi and Isar. It is expected that the sites will be completely explored, Pasko Kuzman, Director of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, told the Dnevnik …

MOSCOW, March 6  – Defense lawyers for former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner have requested the Moscow court dismiss new charges against their clients, a lawyer said on Friday. Khodorkovsky, 45, and Lebedev, 42, are already serving eight-year sentences for tax evasion and theft charges. The new …

Ahead of talks with her Russian counterpart Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear Washington’s continuing stand on its relations with Georgia, saying, Washington’s engagement with Moscow in no way lessened its support for Tbilisi. She was answering questions on the future of US-EU relations and other …

TSKHINVAL, March 6 – An independent inquiry mission of the European Union, which will investigate the facts of the conflict in South Ossetia, arrived in the republic on Friday with Heidi Tagliavini at the head. EU emissaries will meet with South Ossetian presidential Plenipotentiary Representative on Issues of Post-Conflict Settlement …