July, 2009

• 2 July

  Tight Albania vote count shows tense race still on

  Albania’s ruling Democratic Party led their main left-wing rivals by four seats on Wednesday but do not yet have enough seats to form a government with 98 percent of votes counted from Sunday’s parliamentary election.

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• 2 July

  Bulgaria needs no IMF bailout aid: minister

  SOFIA Bulgaria does not need a bailout aid agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), local press reported Wednesday, citing the Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski. 

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• 2 July

  Albania PM claims narrow victory

  The governing centre-right party of Albania’s Prime Minister has claimed victory in elections held last weekend. With most results in, the Democrat party headed by PM Sali Berisha was narrowly ahead of its Socialist rivals, but possibly short of a majority. However, the Socialists accused their rivals of manipulating the …

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• 2 July

  Serb officers return to Kosovo police

  PRISTINA, Kosovo Most suspended Serb police officers reported to duty on Tuesday (June 30th), the deadline set by Kosovo police. A total of 325 Serbs decided to return, ending their protest of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008. Only 18 failed to return. A EULEX statement said the …

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• 2 July

  Albanian election winner still unclear

  TIRANA, Albania The outcome of Sunday’s (June 28th) parliamentary elections hinges on the results in the remaining 80 polling centres where votes have yet to be counted, media reported on Wednesday. According to the latest figures, the coalition led by the ruling Democratic Party won 70 seats, followed by the …

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• 2 July

  Turkey, EU open talks on taxation chapter

  BRUSSELS, Belgium Turkey and the EU opened negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday (June 30th) on a new chapter — the one on taxation — as part of Ankara’s EU accession process. The taxation chapter is the eleventh opened so far. Turkey’s chief negotiator, Egemen Bagis, told a news conference that …

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• 2 July

  Macedonian official in charge of EU integration resigns

  SKOPJE, Macedonia Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Ivica Bocevski resigned on Tuesday (June 30th), telling Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that he has done all he can. “Each generation has its own battle for Macedonia, and my generation had to fight for European and Euro-Atlantic Macedonia,” read a letter to …

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• 2 July

  Karadzic pleads not guilty in letter

  THE HAGUE, The Netherlands Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said in a letter to The Hague war crimes tribunal on Tuesday (June 30th) that he is not guilty of the 11 counts in the indictment against him. Karadzic, who faces charges of genocide, murder and torture stemming from the …

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• 2 July

  BiH sentences former Serb military police member

  SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Court of BiH on Tuesday (June 30th) sentenced a former member of the Serb military police to seven and a half years in prison for murdering and torturing non-Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 conflict. Earlier, defendant Rade Veselinovic pleaded guilty to murdering one civilian …

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• 2 July

  US’s Bryza weighs in on oil exploration dispute

  NICOSIA, Cyprus An oil exploration dispute between Turkey and Cyprus will not undermine ongoing efforts by the two Cypriot communities to reunify the island, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said on Tuesday (June 30th). The dispute is a commercial and legal matter and should have no impact …

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