Eurasia

The Multi-National Battle Group–North will begin their 2-day exercise in northern Kosovo to confirm their operational competence of the new structure of the battle group, KFOR informed.

Finland’s Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will pay official visit to Macedonia on Tuesday. The FM Stubb is scheduled to meet with his counterpart Macedonian FM Antonio Milososki and Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. The two ministers will discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries, Macedonia’s bid for EU membership as …

Today Georgian State Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili left for France to submit the Georgian strategy for the discussion. Georgia will mull the state strategy towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the Council of Europe’s (CE) Committee of Ministers Feb.3. The committee will determine the Council of Europe’s role in implementing …

Attempts to re-energise long running peace talks between leaders of ethnically-divided Cyprus do not seem to have produced the firm results Ban Ki-moon was after, but at least there appears to be goodwill on both sides. Flanked by Greek Cypriot President Demetrius Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, …

Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that voting on the resolution on the Srebrenica massacre will show who on the Serbian political scene behaves and thinks like a responsible person, and who remains in a past era that should be long behind the country. In an interview with the Tanjug …

KFOR downsized from 14,000 to 10,000 troops effective, the peacekeeping force announced. KFOR — made up of troops from 32 countries — will continue to provide security and stability for all Kosovo communities. The downsizing is being implemented in accordance with a NATO decision from July 2009 amid improving security …

A Bosnian Serb wanted by Republika Srpska (RS) authorities for war crimes against civilians has been arrested in Georgia. BiH Justice Ministry official Jusuf Halilagic said that Sasa Lipovac, 40, is in custody pending extradition. The RS Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Lipovac in 2008 after he failed …

Albanian Foreign Minister Ilir Meta said  that defining maritime borders with Greece is a priority for Albania. Last week, the Constitutional Court in Tirana decided that an agreement on the border delineation violates the constitution and must be renegotiated. The opposition Socialist Party (SP) asked the court to for the …

A new border between Romania and Moldova will open no later than on February 12. At least this is what Romanian authorities promised. The announcement was made by prefect of Botosani, Cristian Roman. He met Sunday with County Council President Mihai Ţibuleac, with customs authorities and Border Police, but also …

Serbia’s decision to join NATO would have negative effects on its relations with Russia, Konstantin Kosachev said. “For us, such a decision would be inexplicable and would have a negative effect on relations between Russia and Serbia,” the Chairman of the Duma Committee on International Affairs said. “A possible decision …