Balkans

LONDON, United Kingdom — The government announced on Thursday (June 21st) that it is planning to review rules restricting the hiring of Bulgarian and Romanian workers. Under current regulations, Britain admits no more than 20,000 unskilled workers from both countries as well as a limited number of skilled professionals and …

BRUSSELS, Belgium — EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner denied on Thursday (June 21st) that a deal on freeing five Bulgarian nurses on death row in Libya was imminent.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — An independent study has established that at least 97,000 people died in the Bosnian conflict from 1992 to 1995. The majority of victims, 64,036 of them, were Bosniaks.

BELGRADE, Serbia — Special prosecutor Slobodan Radovanovic announced on Thursday (June 21st) that his office plans to investigate possible political involvement in the March 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

EU officials made it clear Thursday (June 21st) that the bloc would not support a Kosovo independence declaration and warned the province’s leadership against any unilateral action in that direction.

Libya and the European Union are expected to unveil a diplomatic compromise Friday to treat hundreds of HIV-infected children and save six foreign medics accused of infecting them from execution.

PODGORICA, Montenegro — Foreign Minister Milan Rocen said on Tuesday (June 19th) that the government is working to meet EU criteria, and views these as more important than setting deadlines for accession.

BUCHAREST, Romania — President Traian Basescu issued a decree Tuesday (June 19th) appointing Public Works Minister Laszlo Borbely as acting minister of IT and communications.

LUXEMBOURG — EU security chief Javier Solana met with Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha on Tuesday (June 19th) and urged the various Albanian political parties to reach consensus on a candidate to succeed outgoing President Alfred Moisiu.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — The chief international official in BiH denounced on Tuesday (June d19th) a call by the Muslim and Croat members of the tripartite presidency to abolish the Bosnian Serb entity.