The protection of property rights still remains a challenge for Macedonia and most of the Balkans, the 2009 rankings on the International Property Rights Index shows. The Index incorporates 10 variables, divided into three main components: legal and political environment, physical property rights and intellectual property rights.

Despite the global financial turmoil, Romania expects to have around 1.5-1.8 billion euros worth of investment this year in the energy sector alone, Economy Minister Adriean Videanu said on Wednesday. “The money will come from government and private investments, and we will encourage new private initiatives,” Videanu told participants of …

Unlicensed Serbian and Albanian mobile phone companies that operate in Kosovo illegally are denting the profits of legal operators and hurting the Kosovo budget, industry officials said on Wednesday. Authorities have found that Serbia’s MTS operator, and Albanian mobile operators AMC and Kosmofon often used the frequencies of state mobile …

Although thousands of Serbian companies owe billions of dinars in taxes to the state and some of them have had their bank accounts blocked for many months, authorities in Belgrade are reluctant to launch bankrupcy proceedings since that would end up costing more for the budget, a senior tax official …

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A bomb exploded in Afghanistan and killed two civilians while 28 militants and two Afghan soldiers died in clashes, the authorities said The blast and the fighting on Tuesday took place in the south of the country, a Taliban stronghold where about 17,000 US troops are expected …

LONDON, England – Three British troops under NATO command were killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the British Defense Ministry said. They are among 10 international troops in Afghanistan who have died in bombings since Friday. The three soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Rifles, died from their …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Four coalition members were killed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle hit an improvised bomb, the U.S. military said. The incident happened just after midday while the coalition members were on patrol with the Afghan National Security Forces, the U.S. military said. An Afghan civilian working …

Seven Bosnian Serb officials pressed charges against themselves on Monday in what they said was a symbolic gesture of support to Republika Srpska Premier Milorad Dodik, who is facing corruption charges in a controversial case that has shaken Bosnia’s political scene The group, which included two advisors and five deputies …

Albanian police shut down the country’s only film school, the Marubi Academy, on Tuesday arresting its dean and several students over a property dispute with the Ministry of Culture. The dispute concerns property that the academy, headed by filmmaker Kujtim Cashku, occupies in the state-owned film Alba Film studios. Cashku …

Dozens of former Kosovo Protection Corps members who did not get accepted into the newly formed Kosovo Security Force, KSF, attempted to break into KSF’s headquarters on Monday, but were stopped by police The NATO-sponsored KSF, an army in all but name, replaced the Kosovo Protection Corps, KPC, the territory’s …