Eurasia Press & News

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The U.N. war crimes tribunal acquitted Kosovo’s former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj on Thursday of charges of torturing and murdering Serbs during the 1998-99 war.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Just how many troops does NATO need in Afghanistan? Despite repeated calls for more forces to be sent to fight Taliban insurgents, alliance leaders — meeting on Thursday at a summit in Bucharest — have been reluctant or unable to give a consistent figure for how many …

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to focus on areas of agreement rather than discord at talks with NATO leaders on Friday, in efforts to keep ties with the West on a relatively even keel before he steps down.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday the entry of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO would be a “huge strategic mistake” after alliance leaders pledged to offer them membership one day.

MINSK (Reuters) – Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday it was only a matter of time before NATO took in Ukraine and Georgia, and called for joint efforts with Russia to counter the alliance’s expansion.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Macedonia announced it was leaving a NATO summit early on Thursday after Greece prevented alliance leaders from inviting it into the military pact because of a row over its name.

BUCHAREST, Romania – President Bush suffered a painful diplomatic setback Wednesday when NATO allies rebuffed his passionate pleas to put former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership in the Western military alliance.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Wednesday blasted US President George W. Bush’s “antagonistic” claims on Iran’s missile capabilities and said the statements in Bucharest summit of the military alliance are examples of the US government’s “desperate and opportunistic” attempt to destabilize the Middle East region.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – A delay in inviting Macedonia to join NATO could encourage radicals and fuel instability in the Balkans, Albania’s prime minister said, urging compromise to allow a last-minute deal at an alliance summit on Wednesday.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — At the heart of President Bush’s problem in getting NATO allies to send more combat troops to Afghanistan is a basic disconnect over the war: The Europeans don’t see it as one.