May, 2009

• 8 May

  Kosovo Says It Is Joining the IMF

  Kosovo officials say their country has gained enough votes to join the International Monetary Fund, IMF, an important step in the country’s efforts to secure both global recognition and international aid. Kosovo’s government has said that a vote at the body by more than half the IMF’s member states had …

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• 8 May

  Albania Panned Over Kosovo Road Loan

  Opposition parties and independent economists have panned Tirana’s centre-right government for acting ”irresponsibly” by accepting what they say is an exorbitantly high interest rate on a commercial loan to finance the Albania-Kosovo highway. “The government has indebted its citizens in order to finance its pre-electoral spending,” former Minister of Finance …

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• 8 May

  Afghan official: 147 dead in fighting

  KABUL – Sobbing relatives showed U.S. and Afghan investigators the demolished buildings and graves in two western villages where a local official said Thursday he collected the names of 147 people killed in a disputed incident involving American forces and Taliban militants. If local reports of the death toll are …

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• 6 May

  Slovenia Not Pleased With Rehn`s Proposal

  Current proposal of European Union expansion commissioner Olli Rehn is acceptable in principle, but Slovenia will provide its amendments to it, so that it is more balanced, said the spokesperson of Slovene Foreign Affairs Ministry Milan Balazic on Wednesday. Talking at a press conference a few hours before Slovene PM …

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• 6 May

  Croatia to accept Rehn’s proposal on resolving border dispute with Slovenia

  ZAGREB, Croatia The government will accept EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s latest proposal on resolving the border conflict with Slovenia, leaders decided during a high-level meeting Tuesday (May 5th). Rehn suggests that a five-member panel of arbitrators decide the issue.

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• 6 May

  Cypriot leaders agree to boost reunification talks

  NICOSIA, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat agreed on Tuesday (May 5th) to intensify talks aimed at reunifying the divided island, UN Special Representative in Cyprus Taye-Brook Zerihoun said. He explained the two leaders discussed progress achieved so far and decided to speed up the …

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• 6 May

  Vetevendosje leader held for questioning at Macedonian border

  PRISTINA, Kosovo The leader of Kosovo’s Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement, Albin Kurti, was held briefly at the Blace border point between Kosovo and Macedonia late Tuesday (May 5th).

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• 6 May

  BiH appeals court weighs in on prison sentences for two war criminals

  SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The Appeals Chamber at the BiH court on Tuesday (May 5th) ruled that Mirko Pekez and Milorad Savic should spend 14 and 21 years in prison, respectively, for war crimes against Bosniak civilians in 1992. It found them guilty of killing 23 Bosniaks — most …

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• 6 May

  France’s Sarkozy proposes EU membership alternative forTurkey

  PARIS, France President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday (May 5th) the EU should create a common economic and security space with Turkey as an alternative to Turkey’s membership in the Union, media reported.

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• 6 May

  60,000 Romanian public workers launch warning strike

  BUCHAREST, Romania About 60,000 public workers launched a warning strike Tuesday (May 5th), demanding more money and fewer political appointees in the public sector. One of the most powerful unions in the sector, the Sed Lex Alliance, organised the stoppage.

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