BULGARIA Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov has rejected as untrue media reports that talks were to be held with Arab investors interested in the country’s Belene nuclear power station project. On August 30 2009, quoting a report by a Kuwaiti news agency that interviewed Traikov, Bulgarian newspaper Standart …

SERBIA The EU is currently not disposed to further enlargement, says Erhard Busek, the special coordinator for the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. “It’s very thankless to predict the speed of Serbia’s European integration, or that of the other countries in the region,” the Austrian politician told daily Večernje …

BiH Parties from the Bosnian Federation have condemned Serbian President Boris Tadić’s meeting with Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović. Amir Zurkić from the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) said that Tadić’s meeting with the leaders of the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina …

BiH International High Representative to Bosnia Valentin Inzko has asked Slovenia to mediate in the EU for liberalization of the visa regime for Sarajevo. “Slovenia is the only country in the EU that has experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina, they lived together in the same country,” said Inzko, adding that, in that …

TURKEY In the wake of the second round of talks between Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus that are due to resume on Sept. 3, Turkish Cyprus President Mehmet Ali Talat said the possibility of the division on the island to be permanent was getting stronger. “The talks cannot go on …

MACEDONIA, GREECE Greece has toughened its stance in the dispute over Macedonia’s name, making it more likely to block Macedonia’s EU entry bid, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said. Milososki made the remarks in an interview for Reuters on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Slovenia. Greece had …

BiH It’s hard to expect quick progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) towards EU, while the country’s progress towards NATO is more certain, senior official said. The Chairman of BiH collective presidency, Zeljko Komsuc, made the remarks, adding that Sarajevo must improve the cooperation with neighboring countries. BiH’s main problem …

ALBANIA Socialist Party MPs will boycott the Albanian parliament, party leader Edi Rama said one day after the extraordinary congress, Makfax correspondent reported. The decision to boycott parliament is in line with the Resolution adopted at the party congress, according to which, the Socialist Party does not recognize the results …

GEORGIA Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze will visit Armenia on Sep.4-5. The visit will take place as a part of the bilateral agreement, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Department, David Jalaganiya, said at the traditional Monday briefing on Aug.31. Vashadze will meet with his Armenian counterpart, Edvard Nalbandyan during …

GEORGIA The negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Georgia on visa facilitation and readmission are successful, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister, David Jalaganiya said at a traditional meeting on Aug. 31. He said during the third round of the talks, held last week in Brussels, the parties agreed texts for …