Eurasia

MOSCOW – Concerns over Russian-backed natural gas pipelines to Europe will not hurt construction because of Moscow’s commitment to the energy sector, officials said. Expanding the natural gas transit system in Europe received renewed focus following a disruptive gas row between Kiev and Moscow that left European customers without 20 …

Relations between Georgia and Azerbaijan are strengthening year by year, Georgian parliament speaker David Bakradze said. “Our interests are interdependent. Azerbaijan is a country with which Georgia will develop strategic and friendly relations,” he said, Novosti Azerbaijan reported.

Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili said the Turkish-proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform has acquired no “clear shape” yet and consultations were on their “very early stage.” “We always welcome multilateral mechanisms,” Saakashvili said while speaking at a news conference on a sideline of a high-profile Brussels Forum late on March …

Vienna. Austrian banks with branches in Romania are stable, said Romanian President Traian Basescu during his visit to Austria. He added that Austria had invested more than EUR 12 billion in Romania. Austrian President Heinz Fischer said the bilateral relations were excellent and his country was well presented in Romania …

BUCHAREST -The International Monetary Fund finalized a report on a possible loan to help Romania weather the economic crisis and talks are planned to seek a deal, the country’s president said Friday. “The IMF report was finalized yesterday,” President Traian Basescu said after a European Union summit in Brussels, according …

Bulgaria has initiated talks with Russia for a EUR3.8 billion for the construction of its second NPP in Belene, Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov said Monday. Dimitrov who was on an official visit to Moscow last week told the Bulgarian National radio that the decision to seek Russian funding …

BEIJING – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held talks with visiting Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivailo Kalfin here Monday. Yang applauded Sino-Bulgarian fruitful cooperation in the areas of politics, culture, the economy and trade, as well as science and education, saying both countries have maintained …

NATO’s air attack on the former Yugoslavia a decade ago was “the right thing to do” and had improved the lives of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, the US envoy Richard Holbrooke argues. Speaking at the Brussels Forum conference on Saturday, Holbrooke, a former envoy to the Balkans and currently United …

Spain says the withdrawal of its troops from Kosovo is flexible after receiving criticism from NATO concerning their previous plans to pull their troops in the next four or five months. “Defence Minister Carmen Chacon will meet NATO’s Secretary General next week to explain the reasons for the withdrawal and …

Bulgarian migrants living abroad have set up their own political party called “The Other Bulgaria” vowing to tackle corruption and ‘restore the country’s credibility’ in the European Union. Named after a popular television show that tracks the lives of Bulgarian migrants in different parts of the world, the party sets …