Hungary will enjoy good ties with Romania even though the ethnic Hungarian party, the UDMR, will not be part of Romania’s new government, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz says. “We are determined to maintain good relations with the Romanian government even if it does not have any Hungarian ministers or …

The OSCE has slammed a law presented by Albania’s centre-right government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, for the lustration of high administration figures as unconstitutional. “The law breaches several articles of the [Albanian] constitution and an all-inclusive debate it’s necessary before its passed,” said Organisation for Security and Cooperation in …

Pristina – Everyone agrees that Kosovo should progress towards the EU but there is little talk on how to attain this goal, argues the head of the Club for Foreign Policy, Veton Surroi. “The first statement is that Kosovo doesn’t have a European policy. The good news is that everyone …

Romania’s Democrat-Liberals, PD-L and the leftist Social Democrat Party, PSD, on Wednesday agreed on the distribution of 19 ministries in the future government. Both parties will have 9 ministries, each, while the future Justice Minister will be an independent, Prime Minister-designate Emil Boc said. The main ministries are split as …

Skopje – As part of the celebration marking 15 years since Macedonia established diplomatic relations with 13 European countries, the embassies of several nations are opening their doors to visitors. This will be a rare occasion for the Macedonians to catch a glimpse of the Norwegian, Swedish and the United …

Grain farmers from all over Bulgaria took part in protests amid concern that fraudulent practices by some farmers would cause the EU to cut further aid to Sofia. Hundreds of farmers took to the roads in tractors and other vehicles in the countryside near the southern town of Stara Zagora, …

The Bulgarian parliament has approved the government’s 2009 budget based on expected economic growth of 4.7 percent, a rate widely criticised as unrealistic amid the global economic slowdown. The budget plans a surplus of 3 percent of gross domestic product, but also raises social and capital spending which analysts have …

Bulgaria is not preventing an association of Macedonians in Bulgaria from registering as a political party but they instead are refusing to do so, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister claims. Sergey Stanishev was referring to the OMO Ilinden Pirin organisation and made the comments during an official visit to Macedonia in which …

JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel killed a Palestinian militant Tuesday in the occupied West Bank and launched at least one air strike against rocket-launching crews in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. A six-month-old ceasefire between Hamas and the Jewish state expires Friday, and tension along Israel’s border with the Gaza …

JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas has approved for the first time the establishment of a new bank in the Gaza Strip under its authority, a move that could open a door to bypass a financial blockade imposed by Israel and its Western allies. Islamic National Bank chairman Ala al-Rafati said the …