EU Council president Carl Bildt said that solving name issue between Greece and Macedonia will happen only if both sides sit on the same table. After yesterday’s optimistic messages on name settlement, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt suggested to George Papandreou and Nikola Gruevski to enter direct name talks and …

Macedonian Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski visits Russia in order to regulate Macedonia’s clearing debt to Russia and finally settle this issue. Stavreski is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Aleksej Kudrin on Wednesday.

Twelve candidates will be in the run for election to office of the President in Croatia. The 12 candidates will race in presidential polls slated for December 27 to succeed the incumbent Stipe Mesic whose second term expires in early 2010.