Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday that his country would give its unconditional support to Macedonia’s bids to join NATO and the European Union. Basescu, who is paying an official visit to Macedonia, made the announcement at a joint press conference with his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov, news reaching …

EU personnel met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Socialist Party (SP) leader Edi Rama on Wednesday (May 26th) in Tirana, in a bid to mediate a solution to the months-long political stalemate. At issue are differences over the transparency of the June 2009 general elections, which the SP …

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic said on Wednesday (May 26th) that Serbia may stop co-operating with EULEX following the mission’s decision to ban unauthorised visits by Serbian officials. They have been travelling there to campaign ahead of Sunday’s unauthorised elections in northern Kosovo. Bogdanovic accused EULEX of taking the …

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and newly-elected Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu held their first meeting in Nicosia on Wednesday (May 26th). During the meeting, UN Special Envoy Alexander Downer read them a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who warned that time is running out to reach a deal reunifying …

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc said on Wednesday (May 26th) that his government has no intention of giving up its austerity measures, despite public opposition and a confidence vote planned for next week. The measures envision slashing public sector wages by 25% and reducing pensions by 15%. The decision to proceed …

Working groups from Kosovo and Serbia met on Wednesday (May 26th) in Pristina to discuss technical details ahead of the exhumation of a mass grave discovered in Raska, southern Serbia, earlier this month. “We expect the work to begin intensively in two to three weeks at the latest,” Pajazit Nushi, …

Representatives of Serbian government and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, have reached agreement on the fourth review of the country’s stand-by arrangement, which will enable Serbia to draw down €380 million. Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Serbian Minister of Finance Diana Dragutinovic said that due to slowed economic growth in Serbia, …

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia Namiq Aliyev visited the Garajalar village in the Telavi region together with embassy staff and media representatives May 25. The visit aimed to mark the ninety-second anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

US and UK diplomats think that Serbian President Boris Tadic could use his authority to be the mediator and influence a positive outcome of the Slovenian referendum for the arbitrary agreement for the border dispute with Croatia, scheduled for June 6, and also for

Serbian President Boris Tadić will next week pay a three-day visit to Greece, his office told Tanjug on Wednesday. Tadić’s visit was also confirmed in Athens. The president will visit Greece from June 1 to 3 at the invitation of his counterpart Karolos Papoulias.