BUCHAREST, Romania An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook eastern and central Romania late Saturday (April 25th). Officials say the epicentre was in the Vrancea region, about120km northeast of Bucharest. No damage or injuries were reported but people panicked and left their homes. The earthquake was also felt …

BUCHAREST, Romania Moldova has rejected a new ambassador proposed by Romania, an official said yesterday, in another sign of deteriorating relations between the neighboring countries. Earlier this month, Moldova accused Romania of supporting violent anticommunist demonstrations by thousands of people who stormed Moldova’s parliament and presidential offices to protest an …

Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Friday that his country is going to keep its troops in Kosovo and Afghanistan till the NATO mission is concluded. Basescu made the statement at the end of the meeting with the visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who is paying a …

The Russian Company Atomstroyexport (ASE) and France’s Areva signed an agreement for their participation in the construction of the planned 4.0 billion euro nuclear power plant at Belene, Bulgaria, the Russian energy ministry announced. The move comes after Germany’s Siemens pulled out of its CARSIB consortium with Areva, which was …

Some 100 Serbs have protested on Saturday in Mitrovica’s North against the reconstruction process of houses in Kroi I Vitkaut/Brdani neighborhood, populated by local Albanians. The protesters, who gathered around at 10 am, attempted to penetrate by force the police cordon to reach the location where the reconstruction process has …

Kosovo’s Premier, Hashim Thaci declared that Greece will recognise Kosovo’s independence in the “not so distant future”. This declaration was issued during Thaci’s visit to Skopje on Saturday during which Kosovo’s government declared that Macedonia and Kosovo are to establish diplomatic relations very soon. According to him, Macedonia’s recognition of …

A Belgrade daily, Blic, reports that alleged decisions to send Serbian Army, SA, members to take part in NATO exercises in Georgia are ‘not true’. “The truth is that our soldiers will not go to Georgia and we have notified the Russian Ambassador in Belgrade about this,” a source with …

Despite the gloomy predicament of the global financial crisis, Bulgaria is predicting to have a 1 per cent budget surplus in 2009. Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian Minister of Finance, Plamen Oresharski, is assuring the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank of a 1 per cent surplus, during his meeting with …

Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence is unlikely to influence other Islamic countries, experts claim. Christian Le Mière, Editor of Jane’s Intelligence Review and a senior foreign affairs expert, told Balkan Insight that there is little chance that Riyadh’s decision will result in a flurry of recognitions from neighbouring states. …

The latest European Commission proposal to solve the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute has been welcomed by the Croatian cabinet. The latest proposal to resolve the deadlock on the border issue has been warmly received by the Croatian government as it appears that some of their demands were met. This may be …