January, 2013

• 17 January

  Romanians Among Islamist Hostages in Algeria

  At least one Romanian is among the hostages kidnapped and feared killed by Islamic militants in southern Algeria.Romania’s Foreign Minister confirmed on Thursday that at least one Romanian citizen was among the 41 foreigners taken hostage at a British-Norwegian gas plant in Algeria in retaliation to French military intervention in …

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• 17 January

  Croatia, Serbia Urged to Drop Genocide Suits

  Wednesday’s meeting between the Croatian and Serbian prime ministers raised hopes that counter-claims of genocide will be abandoned, a European Parliament rapporteur said.Zagreb and Belgrade should not ignore problems caused by their conflicts in the 1990s but try to solve them through dialogue, said the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Serbia, …

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• 17 January

  Greece, Macedonia Positive on EU ‘Name’ Initiative

  Athens and Skopje have given a cautious welcome to a proposal from EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule to hold talks over the Macedonia ‘name’ dispute.“Greece is not opposed to meetings in principle, under the condition that there be good preparation and, mainly, that a substantial result be ensured,” said Greek …

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• 17 January

  Serbia President Slaps Down Kosovo’s UN Bid

  Tomslav Nikolic says Serbia has no intention of allowing Kosovo to obtain a seat at the United Nations.Speaking on Wednesday, President Nikolic said that Serbia would not allow Kosovo to join UN and the issue would stay off the table at upcoming EU-led Belgrade-Pristina talks. “If it was acceptable, I …

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• 17 January

  Albanian Judge Injured in Acid Attack

  Mirela Mishgjoni, a criminal judge in the city of Vlora, suffered injuries to her face after an unknown suspect sprinkled her with a medical acid compound on Tuesday.Mishgjoni was attacked as she left her apartment for work and has been recovering in Vlora’s regional hospital. Judges in the city of …

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• 17 January

  Macedonia Opposition Threatens Bigger Protests

  Opposition Social Democrats threaten to intensify road blockades after Friday, if the government has not by then accepted their terms for taking part in the next elections.If the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski does not show real interest in dialogue by Friday, the opposition says its supporters will increase …

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• 17 January

  Swarovski to Build Factory in Serbia

  The Austrian company is to start construction of a factory in the town of Subotica in northern Serbia in June.The construction of the new Swarovski factory will start in June and should be complete by late 2014, Mladjan Dinkic, Serbia’s finance minister, said on January 16, after meeting Swarovski managers …

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• 17 January

  EU backs France in Mali action, says french foreign minister

  French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that France is backed by all European Union states for its Mali intervention. EU ministers met in Brussels earlier on Thursday and agreed to help Mali by preparing government troops to fight Islamist rebels. “All the European countries brought their solidarity to Mali, and all my colleagues …

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• 17 January

  French jets strike Mali’s most important cities

  Fighting erupted between rebels and Malian soldiers in the city whose capture by militants first prompted French military intervention, while French forces kept up their bombardments of another key town, fleeing residents said on Thursday. Mali soldiers claimed to

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• 17 January

  35 hostages and 15 kidnappers killed in Algeria

  Thirty-five hostages and 15 kidnappers have been killed in southern Algeria. 41 hostages (from United States, Japan, Norway, France, Romania) and Algerians were taken hostage by armed militants near the Amenas gas field. The kidnappers motivated their action as a response for Algeria

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