June 3, 2009 Balkan News, Eurasia News, Serbia
Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac told Parliament yesterday that the government was in full compliance with a parliamentary ruling on military neutrality, underlining his ministry’s commitment to membership responsibilities in NATO’s Partnership for Peace, PfP, programme. Discussing recent military exercises held in Georgia from May 9 to June 1, Sutanovac …
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June 3, 2009 Balkan News, Eurasia News, Macedonia
Macedonia has no intention of rescinding its recognition of Kosovo, Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Musa Xhaferi told local media Tuesday in Skopje, following intense media speculation. Rescinding recognition of Kosovo as an independent nation is “not an option”, Xhaferi told reporters, adding that the government, on the contrary, was working …
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June 3, 2009 Balkan News, Serbia
The Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, is scheduled tomorrow to submit his long-awaited report on Serbian cooperation to the UN Security Council in New York. Political commentators expect this report to be his most positive assessment yet of Serbia’s cooperation …
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June 3, 2009 Balkan News, Eurasia News
Following a Monday meeting in New York, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn concluded that it was possible for Croatia to finish EU accession negotiations by the end of the year. “We discussed all aspects of the negotiations with the EU and we remain optimists …
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June 3, 2009 Balkan News, Eurasia News, Turkey
Serbia and Turkey have signed a bilateral economic free trade agreement at the annual economic summit in Istanbul, which will take effect on January 1, 2010. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan signed a free trade …
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June 2, 2009 Eurasia News, Turkey
A majority of Turks support their government’s bid to join the European Union, but most say the bloc views it with prejudice because Turkey is a Muslim nation, a new study showed. Three out of four Turks believe the EU is trying to divide Turkey and 81 percent believe the …
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June 2, 2009 Eurasia News, Turkey
NICOSIA, Cyprus Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said on Friday (May 29th) chances are “quite high” for settling the Cyprus problem by the end of this year or early next. In an interview with Reuters, however, he warned that the current process may be the last chance to reunify …
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June 2, 2009 Albania, Balkan News, Eurasia News
TIRANA, Albania Interior Minister Bujar Nishani says Albania has produced 1 million new electronic ID cards since January and that the rest will be in the hands of citizens before they need them to vote in the June 28th parliamentary elections. Nishani said on Sunday (May 31st) that there is …
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June 2, 2009 Eurasia News, Kavkaz News
BRUSSELS The EU condemned Monday “parliamentary elections” took place in the South Ossetian region of Georgia on Sunday.”The EU does not accept the legality of the “elections”, nor its results,” said a statement by the current Czech EU Presidency late Monday.”The holding of such elections is illegitimate and represents a …
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June 2, 2009 Balkan News, Eurasia News, Romania News
Romania’s Romgaz has set up a joint venture with Russia’s Gazprom for underground gas storage facilities that will boost the country’s ability to build gas stocks and could improve supplies to the European Union, the economy minister said Monday. Romgaz and Gazprom each own 50 percent of the joint venture, …
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