March, 2009

• 14 March

  Serbian Government Amends Anti-Discrimination Bill

  The bill, which now goes to parliament, is a key precondition for Serbia to join the European Union and its visa-free regime. The Serbian government said on Friday it had amended an anti-discrimination bill following requests from key religious communities but that the draft still met international standards. The bill, …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Medvedev Invites Lawmakers To Criticise Gov`t

  Kremlin is increasingly concerned about possible social turmoil and Medvedev has called for a more flexible political system. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev invited local lawmakers in unusual remarks on Friday to criticise the government’s handling of the deepening economic crisis. “It’s clear that discussions are possible and even necessary on …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Serb court jails 13, acquits five of war crimes

  Thirteen Serbs were convicted of war crimes and sentenced to prison on Thursday for the execution-style killings of some 200 Croats — one of the worst massacres of prisoners of war (POWs) during the bloody Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Serbia’s war crimes court judges handed the maximum 20-year sentence …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Croatia Consumer Price Inflation Rises In February

  Friday, Croatia’s Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the consumer price index or CPI rose 4.2% year-over-year in February, larger than the 3.4% increase recorded in the previous month.

  Read More »
• 14 March

  German and Slovak FMs: Kosovo has made progress

  German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier, during a meeting with his Slovak counterpart, said that “he’s positively impressed with the Kosovo developments”, adding that “the country has many other challenges ahead.” Steinmier made these comments after the meeting with the Slovakia Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Croatia eyes EU membership by 2011

  Croatia would continue bringing its legislation into line with the European Union in order to enter the pan-Europe bloc by 2011, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Friday. Speaking after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Kinga Goencz, Jandrokovic said that Slovenia should not block Croatia’s …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Austrian diplomat appointed as Bosnia peace envoy

  SARAJEVO – Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko was named as Bosnia’s new peace envoy on Friday, with the task of managing tensions between Muslims, Croats and Serbs and speeding up the country’s integration into Europe. The Peace Implementation Council (PIC), the international body that overseas Bosnia’s peace process, said Inzko would …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Russia welcomes Kazakh proposal for electronic single currency

  MOSCOW – The Kazakh president’s idea for a unified currency for payments between states in the Eurasian Economic Community will be examined and could go forward, Russia’s foreign minister said on Saturday. President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s suggestion would not mean replacing national currencies with an equivalent of the euro, but would …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Medvedev offers condolences over Russians killed in Vietnam

  MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered his condolences on Saturday to the families of the Russian tourists involved in a bus crash in Vietnam that killed at least 15 people, his spokeswoman said. Natalya Timakova also told journalists that the president had ordered Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to …

  Read More »
• 14 March

  Georgian protesters demand Saakashvili resign

  TBILISI  – About 7,000 Georgians rallied in the capital Friday to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstration was a warm-up for a day of protest on April 9 planned by opposition groups who blame Saakashvili for the disastrous war with Russia last August and for failing to …

  Read More »