Traian Băsescu has officially taken office as President of Romania at the official ceremony on Monday and was sworn in. The ceremony was attended by the Romanian patriarch Daniel, judges from the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Emil Boc, other members of the government, chairperson of the Supreme Court of Cassation, …

Serbian President Boris Tadić is to visit Kragujevac and Kragujevac-based carmaker Zastava on Monday, his press office announced. According to an annex to the agreement between Serbia and Fiat, the Italian automobile manufacturer will take over Zastava by the end of 2009, the statement issued in Turin, where Tadić was …

Slovenian President Danilo Turk is in Kosovo today for meetings with Fatmir Sejdiu and Hashim Thaci. The visit, described as official, will also see Turk meet with the Kosovo assembly president, Jakup Krasniqi. As he meets with the Kosovo Albanian president and prime minister, they will discuss “bilateral relations between …

Once Serbia becomes a candidate for European Union membership, it will receive EUR 250mn from the European IPA funds. Economic analyst Goran Nikolić said that Serbia is currently using two installments from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds worth EUR 200mn, and that once it becomes a candidate for …

Leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) Ali Ahmeti, as expected, was reelected at the Congress Saturday to rule the party next four years. In the 40-minute address to delegates at the Congress, Ahmeti has turned more attention to the implementation of the Framework Agreement, foreign policy, economics, reforms, …

Elections are expected to be re-run in Prizren, Gjilan and Lipjan because of ‘serious fraud and vote stealing’ during the December 13 Kosovo mayoral run-off. The Election Commission on Appeals and Complaints, ECAC, has asked the Central Election Commission, CEC, to rerun the poll in these municipalities after investigations revealed …

The Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) will be the most important party in Moldova in the next elections”, declared PLDM president Vlad Filat at the third Congress of the party on Saturday. Though having prepared a thick report to read from, Filat put it aside and engaged in an emotion-packed speech …

Today the leaders of the Georgian radical opposition will gather in front of the Radisson Hotel in Tbilisi and travel to Kutaisi to participate in the protest action. This decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of opposition leaders in the Prima Vera hotel, Georgia’s Way party reported.

Serbian President Boris Tadic travels to Stockholm on Tuesday to officially submit Serbia’s application for EU candidacy. The decision came after Tadic and the country’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic signed a request on Saturday night, in the name of the government, for EU candidacy.

Fully fledged membership of NATO and the European Union remains Macedonia’s top priority but the country will not accept blackmail from Greece in order to achieve these goals, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said. At a celebration of the 12th anniversary of his ruling VMRO-DPMNE party’s Union of Women, Gruevski said …