Macedonia’s top political parties – the ruling centre-right VMRO DPMNE and the opposition Social-Democrats – have condemned Tuesday’s incident in Athens, Greece in which ultra-nationalists stormed the promotion of a Greek-Macedonian dictionary. The parties urged Athens and Brussels to condemn the incident and find the perpetrators. Macedonian government spokesman Sefket …

Veteran Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin failed on Wednesday to secure parliament’s election of a compliant ally as his successor who would have allowed him to continue running the country behind the scenes. Voronin’s plan to win parliamentary support for fellow Communist Zinaida Greceanii came unstuck when opposition parties torpedoed the …

“It is always smart to unite against a common enemy, and that is Croatia who has border disputes with everyone. With Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro” said the head of the Slovenian National Party, Zmago Jelincic, in an interview for the Frankfurt “Vesti”, the Serbian Diaspora paper. He added …

ZAGREB, Croatia Croatia could join the EU no earlier than 2012, European Parliament (EP) rapporteur for Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, told the Vienna-based newspaper Die Presse on Tuesday (June 2nd). He added that this assumes the maritime border row with Slovenia is resolved soon. Slovenia has been blocking the opening and …

SKOPJE, Macedonia The government on Tuesday (June 2nd) rejected media reports suggesting Skopje may withdraw its recognition of Kosovo’s independence. “Recognition was a very delicate process, which went through all the necessary procedures, and in the end was endorsed with a resolution by parliament,” government Spokesperson Sherif Duraku said. Separately, …

NICOSIA, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias said on Tuesday (June 2nd) he has made no concessions in the ongoing reunification talks, and has no intention of doing so. “Any such move would harm Greek Cypriots’ interests and efforts to find a solution to the island’s political problem,” he stressed.

TIRANA, Albania Albania has started implementing a visa regime for foreign visitors, media reported on Tuesday (June 2nd). Under the new regulations, the visitors will have to follow procedures similar to those Albanians must follow when travelling abroad. In order to obtain a visa, foreigners will have to book a …

Bonn. World Development Report 2010 reads that the changes in sea levels, another consequence of climate change, will affect the four basins in the region of Europe and Central Asia – the Baltic Sea, eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, the Black Sea and …

Brussels – NATO’s foreign ministers are set to hold the first formal talks with their Russian counterpart since last summer’s Georgia war on June 27, NATO officials said Wednesday. The 29 members of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), NATO’s 28 and Russia’s, are to meet on the fringes of an informal …

Vidin. Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev visited Thursday the construction site of the second bridge over the Danube River between Bulgaria and Romania, FOCUS Radio-Vidin informs.