April, 2009

• 21 April

  Serb President Calls For Peace During Kosovo Visit

  Serbia’s President Boris Tadic on Friday urged Serbs and Albanians to live in peace during a pre-Easter visit to an Orthodox monastery in the newly-independent state of Kosovo. “Today I have a message of peace for Serbs, Albanians and for all people who live in Kosovo in our Serbia,” Tadic …

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Serbia, Kosovo present arguments on independence at International Court of Justice

  THE HAGUE, Netherlands The case at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of Kosovo’s independence is “the trial of the century”, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Friday (April 17th), as the two sides in the trial presented their arguments.

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Erdogan says Turkey’s membership would strengthen EU’s internal market

  BERLIN, Germany Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday (April 19th) that his country would strengthen the EU’s internal market if it joins the bloc. Erdogan was speaking in Hanover, a day after attending a birthday party for former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who turned 65 on April …

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Arrests of intellectuals sparks protest in Turkey

  ANKARA, Turkey Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Ankara mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the secular Turkish state, on Sunday (April 19th) to protest arrests stemming from an alleged plot to topple the country’s Islamic-rooted government.

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Inzko says constitutional changes no condition for BiH’s EU membership

  SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) High Representative Valentin Inzko said on Sunday (April 19th) that constitutional changes in BiH are no condition for shutting down the office of the high representative or for the country’s EU accession.

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Topi urges Albanians to vote in June elections

  TIRANA, Albania President Bamir Topi on Sunday (April 19th) again urged all citizens to participate in the June 28th general elections, given the importance of these elections to potential EU membership.

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Kazakhstan refuses to take part in NATO drills in Georgia

  ASTANA  – Kazakhstan will not take part in NATO-led military exercises in Georgia in May, the Kazakh defense minister said on Tuesday. Kazakhstan was earlier scheduled to take part in the Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer-2009 command-and-staff exercise, which Russia has criticized as unhelpful in the wake of last summer’s armed conflict …

  Read More »
• 21 April

  South Ossetia detains European observers

  MOSCOW  – The pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia has detained several observers from the OSCE for illegally crossing the Georgian-South Ossetian border, a separatist official told Reuters on Tuesday. “OSCE representatives were detained on South Ossetian territory for illegal border crossing,” Irina Gagloyeva said, without giving further details. She …

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Romania appoints ambassador to ASEAN

  JAKARTA, April 21 – Romania has appointed Gheorghe Vilcu as the country’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a statement from the ASEAN Secretariat said here Tuesday. The new ambassador becomes the ninth ambassador to ASEAN, who comes from the European Union (EU). Vilcu presented his letter …

  Read More »
• 21 April

  Romania Voices Mass Citizenship Plan for Moldovans

  Romania has announced plans to give citizenship to up to 1 million Moldovans, a project that has left Brussels dismayed. Bucharest has put forward a bill to extend the right to naturalisation for Moldovans whose grandparent or great-grandparent was a Romanian. Previously, only Moldovans with Romanian grandparents could apply. The …

  Read More »