Eurasia

A new pre-trial status conference in the case of Radovan Karadzic is due to take place on April 2, 2009. The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, has announced that another pre-trial status conference in the case of Radovan Karadzic will take place on …

Renewed activity by Russia`s strategic bombers over the Atlantic and regular tests of strategic missiles have rung alarm bells in the West. Russian strategic bombers on Thursday carried out their first training exercise of the year, firing cruise missiles at a training ground in northern Russia, Interfax news agency reported. …

BERLIN, Germany — Police in Stuttgart on Thursday (March 19th) arrested two men who allegedly provided confidential governmental information to members of criminal groups and foreign intelligence services in Kosovo and Macedonia.

ATHENS, Greece — A strong explosion shook the offices of a real estate state agency in Athens late on Thursday (March 19th). Preliminary investigations suggest that a gas leak may have caused the blast in the Ambelokipi district.

Madrid – Spain’s decision to withdraw its peacekeepers from Kosovo was Friday expected to be followed by an increase of Spanish troops in Afghanistan, press reports said. Spain could increase its contingent of nearly 800 soldiers in Afghanistan with up to 500 more, senior military sources were quoted by the …

ZAGREB, Croatia — The government decided at a session on Wednesday (March 18th) to submit the NATO treaty to parliament for ratification. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader noted that the majority of NATO members had ratified the document and the rest were expected to follow suit soon, clearing the way for …

BRUSSELS – The leaders of the 27 EU member countries have approved the inclusion of Belarus in the bloc’s Eastern Partnership program, the Czech prime minister’s spokesman said on Friday. “Belarus is on the list,” he said. The Czech Republic currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency. 

Russian and US presidents should make progress on long-range nuclear weapons cuts when they meet next month, but Moscow will be linking this to US anti-missile plans which it opposes, an official said. A follow-up pact to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which expires in December, is on …

MOSCOW- Russia will not back away from its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order to begin a dialogue on relations with Georgia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Davaid Bakradze, a spokesman for the Georgian parliament, said on Thursday that Tbilisi was ready to begin a dialogue …

An article in the Economist magazine reports that Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev has proposed a kind of committee of European Union officials to visit Bulgaria in order to monitor and enforce progress in the country’s drive against corruption and organised crime. Stanishev’s idea follows the European Commission’s decision to …