Eurasia Press & News

WASHINGTON Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a new strategic arms reduction treaty (START) will be the key issue at the upcoming Russia-US summit in Moscow in July and experts will work in the coming months to provide proposals for the Russian and US Presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. 

WASHINGTON US President Barack Obama said on Thursday after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov he saw an “excellent opportunity” to reset previously strained relations with Russia on a wide range of issues. 

TBILISI Georgian counterintelligence officers detained former head of the Coordinating headquarters of the NATO Partnership for Peace plan Irakly Batkuashvili on suspicion of espionage, his lawyer Onise Mebonia said on Thursday. 

PODGORICA, Montenegro The president of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP), Ranko Krivokapic, won re-election on Wednesday (May 6th) as parliament speaker after the nomination of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic for a sixth term late last week. The ruling coalition backed Krivokapic’s nomination, while the opposition voted against it. After the vote, …

TIRANA, Albania The government decided late on Wednesday (May 6th) to grant NATO permission to patrol its airspace until the Albanian air force starts patrolling it on its own. Parliament is expected to adopt the measure soon, without objections from the opposition. Albania joined NATO in early April.

PRISTINA, Kosovo A delegation of ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states visited Kosovo on Wednesday (May 6th) to gather more information on efforts by EULEX personnel. The ambassadors, members of the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels, assist with the EU’s political activities by preparing opinions for European …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic arrived on Thursday (May 7th) for an official visit to Skopje, the first by a Serbian official since Macedonia recognised Kosovo’s independence and Belgrade recalled its ambassador to Skopje last October.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) The chief prosecutor of The Hague war crimes tribunal, Serge Brammertz, confirmed on Wednesday (May 6th) that the tribunal has destroyed around 1,000 pieces of evidence from mass graves in the Srebrenica area.

TBILISI The EU and Georgia’s influential Orthodox Church leader urged political forces in the former Soviet republic to step back from the brink yesterday after weeks of protests against the president flared into violence. 

Bulgaria is counting on loans from Russia, Germany and France to build a new four-billion-euro nuclear power plant on the Danube, Deputy Economy and Energy Minister Yavor Kuyumdjiev said Thursday. Funding for the plant, which was due to come from the Bulgarian state and German power giant RWE, was proving …