July, 2009

• 24 July

  Party re-registration process under way in Serbia

  BELGRADE, Serbia The process to re-register political parties, as spelled out under a new law, begins Thursday (July 23rd). All parties will now have six months to collect enough signatures for registration, at a far higher threshold than before: 10,000 for a mainstream party and 1,000 for parties representing minorities. …

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• 24 July

  Kosovo asks EULEX about talks with Belgrade

  PRISTINA, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci on Wednesday (July 22nd) sent a letter to EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon about reports that the mission is holding talks with Serbia on judicial matters, including police and customs.

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• 24 July

  Croatia’s Kosor confirms plans for new tax

  ZAGREB, Croatia Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor confirmed on Wednesday (July 22nd) that the cabinet plans to introduce a temporary tax to boost budget revenues during the economic crisis. The rate will be 5-6%, down from 8% as initially proposed. The new tax on salaries and pensions would take effect next …

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• 24 July

  Albania’s poor to receive more aid

  TIRANA, Albania The government plans to target less developed regions of the country, particularly in the northeast and southeast, to help low income residents there. At a meeting Wednesday (July 22nd), Prime Minister Sali Berisha instructed his cabinet to prepare a package of assistance measures within a month, aimed at …

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• 21 July

  Albanian government pledges to focus on EU

  TIRANA, Albania Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Sunday (July 19th) said the future government’s goal will be to bring the country closer to EU membership. Berisha said the coalition between his Democratic Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration will focus on pro-EU reforms, and expanding human rights and citizen …

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• 21 July

  Inzko says BiH’s Prud process basically dead

  SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) High Representative Valentin Inzko says the so-called Prud process of dialogue among leaders of the three main political parties is basically dead, and is now a process involving more parties, local media reported on Sunday (July 19th). In an interview with Sarajevo-based OBN TV, Inzko …

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• 21 July

  Talat seeks international pressure on Greek Cypriots

  NICOSIA, Cyprus Greek Cypriots are refusing to speed up negotiations to reunify the island and won’t until the international community exerts pressure on them, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told a press conference Saturday (July 18th). While Turkey is actively supporting ongoing efforts to find a solution to the …

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• 21 July

  Greece, Cyprus criticise Turkish oil exploration plans

  ATHENS, Greece Athens and Nicosia have reacted sharply to Turkey’s decision authorising the Turkish Petroleum Corporation to launch an oil exploration project in the Mediterranean Sea, Greek media reported on Monday (July 20th). Last week, Ankara announced that a Turkish vessel will start exploring hydrocarbon resources in four areas off …

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• 21 July

  UNHCR objects to Greece’s new asylum regulations

  ATHENS, Greece The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday (July 17th) it is suspending its participation in advisory committees examining asylum requests in Greece to protest newly adopted rules on granting asylum.

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• 21 July

  Karadzic: One Year On

  A year after the wartime president of Republika Srpska was arrested, war victims and legal analysts in Bosnia say it is high time for his trial to begin. Exactly one year since the arrest of Radovan Karadzic in Belgrade, it is still unknown when his trial, considered by many as …

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