Eurasia

MOSCOW Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warmly thanked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for the high-level holding of the G8 summit. Medvedev in a telephone talk on Saturday noted the high level of the preparation for the summit, both in the organisational aspect and in point of the content of the …

Military observers and police of what was the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) will leave Abkhazia at the end of next week, as the operation proceeds with its liquidation, the world body announced today. 

Sarajevo – Several hundred people are expected to gathered Saturday at the Potocari Memorial Park in Bosnia to mark the 14th anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. The remains of 534 victims will be buried later in the day. So far a total of 3,749 identified bodies have been buried …

ZAGREB, Croatia A regional summit on energy, investments and economic development began on Thursday (July 9th) in the coastal resort of Dubrovnik. Heads of government, foreign ministers and diplomats from the region, as well as officials from the United States and the EU, are participating in the two-day forum.

PODGORICA, Montenegro Parliament passed a declaration Thursday (July 9th) condemning the crimes Serbian forces committed against Bosniak civilians in Srebrenica, as well as “all other crimes committed during the conflicts from 1991 to 2001 on the territory of the former Yugoslavia”.

SOFIA, Bulgaria The lame duck government went ahead and named political appointees to various diplomatic posts Thursday (July 9th), despite a warning from the Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), which won Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

BUCHAREST, Romania The final report by a parliamentary committee looking into the activities of Sports Minister Monica Iacob Ridzi recommended on Thursday (July 9th) she be investigated for abuse of office, and said she should resign. Only members of her Liberal Democratic Party refused to vote in favour of the …

BRUSSELS, Belgium The European Commission (EC) will ask the EU Council next week to offer visa-free travel to citizens of Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Thursday (July 9th). Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will officially present the proposal in Strasbourg on Tuesday. It will require …

ATHENS, Greece An estimated 2,000 people marched in Athens on Thursday (July 9th) to protest racism and government plans to deport illegal immigrants. They rallied outside parliament chanting “No to expulsion!” The demonstration was organised by trade unions, the Committee for Protection of Immigrants and leftist groups. Several far-left groups, …

ANKARA, Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday (July 8th) he will ask the UN Security Council to discuss ways to stop clashes in China. Beijing reacted to Erdogan’s statement on Thursday saying it is a domestic issue. “This is purely China’s internal affair and doesn’t demand a …