March, 2009

• 17 March

  Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania with Highest Inflation in EU

  Bulgaria is one of three EU member states that registered the highest 12-month inflation averages up to February 2009, the European Union announced Monday. The lowest 12-month averages up to February 2009 were registered in the Netherlands and Portugal (both 2.2%) and Germany (2.4%), and the highest in Latvia (14.1%), …

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• 17 March

  Eviction of Roma Sparks Controversy in Serbia

  Serbia’s Ministry of Labour and Welfare intends to relocate 62 Roma families, that are currently living in an illegal settlement under the Gazela bridge in Belgrade, to the southern Serbian town of Vranje – despite protests from Vranje’s local authorities. The notice from the Ministry to Vranje’s major – which …

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• 17 March

  Macedonia’s Boskoski Accuses VMRO of Threats

  Macedonia’s independent presidential candidate Ljube Boskoski claims that his supporters have received threats from the ruling conservative party VMRO DPMNE. Boskoski’s spokesperson Vesna Tasevska said on Monday that the candidate’s supporters who are employed in the public administration “receive threats for their jobs and even direct threats against their physical …

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• 17 March

  Bosnia’s New Top Envoy Feels “Heavy Burden”

  Bosnia’s new High Representative and EU Special Representative, Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, said he is coming to the troubled country with “mixed feelings”, encouraged by strong international support but also aware of the “heavy burden” of the difficult task that lies ahead. Over the weekend, local and international officials greeted …

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• 17 March

  Serb MPs Blocked at Border by Kosovo Police

  Kosovo’s border police have turned back eight Serbian parliament members trying to enter Kosovo on Monday because they did not notify Kosovo’s ministry of external affairs of their official visit. The eight delegates are members of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, and were on their way to visit …

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• 17 March

  One Killed, 14 Injured in Bosnia’s Mine Blast

  One miner was killed and 14 others were injured over the weekend in an explosion of methane in a coal mine at Stranjani near central Bosnian town of Zenica. Two out of the 14 injured miners are in a critical condition with severe burns and Bosnian officials have been trying …

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• 17 March

  Serbia Hopes for IMF Loan Worth €3 Billion

  Serbia hopes to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, on a new stand by loan arrangement worth up to 3 billion euros by the end of this week. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic on Monday stated that he expects talks with the IMF to end by late …

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• 17 March

  S&P Downgrades Croatia Currency Rating

  Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Croatia’s currency by one notch to BBB from BBB+, as financing from outside the country becomes increasingly difficult or expensive to come by. The rating agency also cited on Monday the country’s lack of fiscal policy flexibility due to its large public sector. …

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• 16 March

  Slovene ForMin: I Don`t Expect Agreement On Mediation Soon

  The intergovernmental conference on Croatian EU accession needs to be postponed for the same reason, Zbogar believes. Slovene Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Zbogar said on Monday in Brussels that he does not expect an agreement to be achieved soon on mediation models for solving the outstanding Slovene-Croatian border dispute and …

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• 16 March

  Turk Police Detain 17 Protesters At Water Forum

  Protesters accused the forum of being a platform for water privatisation, and shouted `water for life, not for profit`. Turkish police fired teargas to disperse a group of about 100 protesters gathered at the start of a global water forum in Istanbul on Monday and detained 17, state-run news agency …

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