Eurasia

L’AQUILA, Italy President Barack Obama and his aides were on the defensive at the G-8 summit here Thursday after developing countries attending a 17-nation climate change forum refused to commit to specific goals to reduce their output of greenhouse gases. Taken together with a G-8 statement Wednesday that sidestepped any …

Georgia has been accused of flying spy planes over its breakaway region of Abkhazia for the first time since the war there last August.The Abkhaz authorities say two drones entered their air space on Wednesday.The Georgian government denied the claims and said the planes must have been Russian.

SOFIA EU consumer protection commissioner Meglena Kuneva of Bulgaria said Friday she had decided not to take up a seat in the European parliament, despite being elected there last month.

Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov, expected to be nominated as prime minister-designate next week, asked outgoing economy and energy minister Petar Dimitrov for a moratorium on all negotiations concerning big energy deals. “GERB is hearing worrying news about the activities of state companies, which do not take into account the financial …

MOSCOW At his regular briefing Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko touched upon the recent events in Bulgaria. “We respect the parliamentary election result in Bulgaria and Bulgarian people’s will. Bulgaria is a traditional partner of ours in the Balkans and we hope the new Bulgarian government will preserve stable …

SOFIA Europe knows different systems of management and coordination of European processes. It is a matter of political judgment whether a country will have a European affairs minister or not, Minister for European Affairs Gergana Passy said at the presentation of the priorities of the Swedish EU presidency. “In 2005 …

The remains of eight people have been discovered in a mass grave dating back to 1998, the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo has confirmed. Following a tip-off that land next to the Gjilan to Kamenica road, in eastern Kosovo, had been dug up in 1998, EULEX and Kosovo Police began …

The start of a Macedonian parliamentary session to debate the recent reshuffling of the cabinet of centre-right Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and to appoint new ministers has so far been marked by a heated verbal exchange between the PM and the outgoing Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski, who was fired on …

Montenegro’s parliament yesterday adopted a declaration condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The declaration accepts a European Parliament resolution on Srebrenica from January this year, condemning war crimes in Srebrenica and proclaiming July 11 a day of remembrance for the …

A Serbian delegation led by Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has refused to participate in the Croatia Summit 2009, which opened last night in Dubrovnik, Croatian national television, HRT, reported. According to the HRT website, the reason for Jeremic’s refusal to take part in the summit was a misunderstanding over the …