Russia is waiting for Bulgaria to explain its intention to join a new US missile defence system in Europe which came as an unwelcome surprise to Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.

Crotian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Friday (February 12th) said that a successful fight against organised crime requires close and lasting co-operation between police across the region. Opening the fourth meeting of interior ministers from the six former Yugoslav republics in Zagreb, Kosor said that without joint efforts against organised …

The Hague war crimes tribunal (ICTY) on Friday (February 12th) rejected an appeal of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to fire his court-appointed lawyer. According to the court, the appointment did not violate the legal rights of the defendant. The ICTY appointed British lawyer Richard Harvey to represent Karadzic …

Prime Minister George Papandreou on Friday (February 12th) accused the bloc of using Greece as a scapegoat to hide the 27-member group’s own failures. Speaking at a government session only a day after the EU leaders agreed to help Greece deal with its financial woes, Papandreou stressed that because of …

Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg on Friday (February 12th) urged EU member states to stop the forced repatriation of Kosovo citizens, arguing that this only worsens the economic situation. “Kosovo is not ready to receive a larger scale of people returning from other countries at …

Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan on Friday (February 12th) submitted to parliament two protocols aimed to normalise ties with Turkey. The documents, signed in October last year, will be discussed by lawmakers for ratification. However, Sargsyan said that Armenia’s parliament will first wait for Turkey to ratify them before doing …

Spanish ambassador to Serbia Inigo de Palacio Espana said that Madrid does not support the plan for the integration of northern Kosovo. Commenting on media speculation that suggests that Spain supports the plan of the International Civil Office (ICO) in Kosovo Chief Pieter Feith for the integration of northern Kosovo …

Kulata checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Greek border is closed for all types of vehicles, the official on duty in Blagoevgrad District Police Directorate said. The checkpoint was again closed for all vehicles at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. There is no information when it will be opened.

A member of the team of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said they will say sorry if opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych is officially declared the winner of Ukraine’s presidential elections after votes are recounted at certain polling stations.

The main ethnic Albanian parties in Macedonia have expressly rejected the idea of forming an all-Albanian coalition to stand in opposition to the ruling party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.