March, 2009

• 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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• 16 March

  Croatian PM To Visit Serbia In Post-Kosovo Detente

  ZAGREB – Croatia’s Prime Minister Ivo Sanader will visit Serbia on March 20 for the first time since his country’s recognition of Kosovo angered its Balkan neighbor. Relations between the two ex-Yugoslav republics improved in the past decade after the ethnic wars of the 1990s. But Serbia recalled its ambassador …

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• 16 March

  Serbia case against student wanted in US postponed

  BELGRADE, Serbia – A Serbian court on Monday suspended the proceedings against a former university student wanted in the U.S. for allegedly beating an American classmate into a coma. A municipal court in Belgrade postponed the case against Miladin Kovacevic, 22, after it failed to persuade witnesses in the U.S. …

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• 16 March

  Editorial denounces Serbian government for rescinding bill at church’s call

  Traditional churches and religions communities, headed by the Serbian Orthodox Church [SPC], demand substantial changes to the bill on discrimination that would de facto have the act crucial in defining civic freedoms of marginalized social groups annulled. The Serbian Government has a commitment to its citizens, its legality and legitimacy …

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• 16 March

  European Parliament pledges strong support for Kosovo

  The Republic of Kosovo chief diplomat, Skender Hyseni, met with the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on Tuesday in Strasbourg whom he informed about the development and achievements in Kosovo since the declaration of independence last year. The Kosovar Foreign Minister Hyseni discussed with the President of the …

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• 16 March

  Kosovo appeals court clears Albanian in bus bombing

  Pristina,  – European Union judges in a Kosovo appeals court cleared an Albanian man who had previously been sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 2001 bombing of a Serbian bus, local reports said Friday. The appeals court ruled Thursday that the evidence against Florim Ejupi was insufficient for …

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• 16 March

  No devaluation in Macedonia, Vice-Premier Stavreski says

  Ohrid, – There will be no devaluation in Macedonia. The country has sufficient reserves and thanking to the reforms, sound monetary, fiscal policy, stoically deals with the crisis, Vice-Premier Zoran Stavreski said Friday during his visit to Ohrid.

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