Kosovo's Thaci seeks independence timetable at EU

CTV.ca

Kosovo's Thaci seeks independence timetable at EU
Reuters - 2 hours ago
By Matt Robinson PRISTINA, Serbia, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci meets top European Union and NATO officials this week in the hope of securing a timetable for the province's independence from Serbia within the next two months.

AFP

Rice warns EU against dithering on Kosovo status
AFP - 1 hour ago
BERLIN (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent a warning to European nations here Tuesday that there was a "danger" in delaying resolving the issue of Kosovo's status. "I don't think we have a gap with Europe on Kosovo.

'We all share the same heritage'
Scotsman - 16 hours ago
By SUE WILSON FOR most of us in this country, knowledge of the Balkans pretty much starts and ends with the conflict that wracked the region in the early 1990s, following the demise of Soviet-bloc Yugoslavia.

Italian firm to build power link with Albania Economic Times - Jan 21, 2008 MILAN: Italian construction and energy firm Moncada Costruzioni plans to start this year building a 400-kilovolt power link with Albania to boost electricity imports to Italy. "We have received all necessary authorisations for building and starting up ... Albania to Fight Grey Economy BalkanInsight.com - 2 hours ago Underlining the significance of introducing flat rate taxes at an exceptionally low rate at the beginning of the year, Berisha said on Monday that this was an important “welcome” sign for foreign investors in Albania. “We have increased incomes. Albania to Build Major Wind Farm BalkanInsight.com - 23 hours ago 21 January 2008 Tirana _ Albania is to host one of the biggest wind farms in Europe, according to plans announced by the Italian Moncada construction company.

Croatia bans smoking in public places; amends zero tolerance for ...
Southeast European Times - 1 hour ago
By Natasa Radic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb -- 22/01/08 One of the first actions by Croatia's new ruling coalition government earlier this month was to ban smoking in public places and to amend the zero tolerance alcohol policy for drivers ...

The Moscow Times

Russia and Bulgaria build South Stream
Courrier International - 2 hours ago
Russia and Bulgaria have signed the contract for building the South Stream gas pipeline, which is to pass through the Black Sea.

Peninsula On-line

Macedonia, Greece fail to resolve name dispute in fresh talks
Xinhua - 19 hours ago
21 (Xinhua) -- Macedonia and Greece demonstrated willingness but failed to resolve the two Balkan neighbor's differences over Macedonia's name following the fresh talks at the lakeside town of Ohrid on Monday, said reports reaching here from Macedonia.

Help.me, love.me: new registry for Montenegro domain
Heise Online - 5 hours ago
Montenegro's governmental council for the top level domain (ccTLD) .me has opted for a consortium of US registrar GoDaddy, Afilias, and the local ME-Net.

gibfocus.gi

Montenegro citizen arrested for 'practical joke' No 6 Bomb Hoax
gibfocus.gi - 12 minutes ago
A man from Montenegro has been arrested for a hoax phone call made to No 6 Convent Place two weeks ago stating there was a bomb on the Government premises.

CBS News

Serbia Agrees to Russian Pipeline Deal
The Associated Press - 4 hours ago
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Serbia said Tuesday it had agreed to a multibillion dollar gas pipeline project as part of an energy deal with Russia that would boost Moscow's control over supplies to Europe.
Serbia agrees Gazprom energy deal BBC News
Serbia agrees to Russian pipeline deal BusinessWeek

Blogged with Flock

"Koštunica does not want Serbia in EU"

The Age

Serbian Orthodox Church lashes out at 'world power-mongers' over ...
International Herald Tribune - 2 hours ago
AP BELGRADE, Serbia: The Serbian Orthodox Church used its Christmas message Monday to lash out at what it called world "power-mongers" seeking to take away Kosovo from Serbia. The church said that world powers were "shamelessly violating all norms of

Bosnia more of threat to stability in Balkans than Kosovo: EU
EUbusiness (press release) - 12 minutes ago
(LJUBLJANA) - The future of Bosnia, currently made up of two highly autonomous halves, poses a "more serious" threat to stability in the Balkans than Kosovo does, the EU's current president Janez Jansa said Monday. "Bosnia-Hercegovina is a more serious ...

Mrkonjić: I will never allow Kosovo independence
B92 - 15 minutes ago
“It’s our duty to the Serbian people, tradition, the Constitution and the policies led by the socialists over the past century in defending Kosovo,” said the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) presidential candidate at a rally in Priložje, ...

BALKANS: Serbs Wait For Free Wealth
IPS - 13 minutes ago
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic BELGRADE, Jan 7 (IPS) - Going by official media, the Kosovo dispute seems to top the nation's agenda. But Serbs have their mind more on visions of free wealth that they believe will be theirs, after the Law on Free Distribution ...

Balkans minnow takes over as leader of the EU
Telegraph.co.uk - Jan 3, 2008
It takes the helm as the issue of the Balkans and Yugoslavia burst back on to the international agenda with Kosovo. The small Alpine country along with Croatia sparked the break-up of Yugoslavia by declaring independence in 1991.

Putin to visit Bulgaria on January 17 and 18
Sofia Echo - 2 hours ago
Russian president Vladimir Putin would visit Bulgaria on January 17 and 18, the press office of the Bulgarian President said.

China Daily

Greece hit by strong earthquake
Tehran Times - 41 minutes ago
Reports say the quake was felt over much of Greece, which is the most earthquake-prone country in Europe. BBC Athens correspondent Malcolm Brabant said the quake shook his house vigorously for 20 seconds and sent him sprinting for the front door.

Rival Orthodox churches in Montenegro in Christmas clash
B92 - Jan 5, 2008
CETINJE -- The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro and the Montenegrin Orthodox Church today sent Xmas greetings. Both churches will hold their central Christmas Eve festivities in Cetinje.

"Koštunica does not want Serbia in EU"
B92 - 3 hours ago
BELGRADE -- Vojin Dimitrejević believes behind Vojislav Koštunica’s most recent comments lies his wish for Serbia not to enter the EU.

Blogged with Flock

Kosovo PM: Independence not for Sale

Kosovo PM: Independence not for SaleBIRN - 19 hours ago30 10 2007 Pristina _ Kosovo’s Prime Minister Agim Ceku has said that Albanians will not consider any option that would freeze Kosovo’s political status in exchange for economic aid. “Nobody can cheat us by offering money instead of independence”, ...

Serbia Rejects German Model for KosovoBIRN - 16 hours agoBy Aleksandar Vasovic 30 10 2007 Belgrade _ Resolving the long-term status of Kosovo along the lines of an intra-German deal agreed in 1972 is unacceptable to Serbia, a minister said on Tuesday.

Corruption in way of reform in west BalkansFinancial Times - 11 hours agoBy Tony Barber in Brussels Corruption, organised crime and ethnic tensions are slowing reforms in the western Balkans, the European Commission says in a report that indicates near-term EU membership is unlikely for most countries in the region.

آكيBalkans: 'Serbian Orthodox Church to split' paramilitary group ...آكي - 14 hours agoBelgrade, 30 Oct. (AKI) - The commander of the paramilitary Tsar Lazar Guard organization, Hadzi Andrej Milic, on Tuesday predicted a split in the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).

Nuclear ambitions fan controversy in BulgariaInternational Herald Tribune - 3 hours agoBy Matthew Brunwasser SOFIA: As governments around the world struggle to secure energy supplies, cut carbon emissions and adapt to rising oil prices, Bulgaria has adopted an ambitious solution: Construct a new nuclear power plant, the country's second, ...

Spiegel OnlineGreece to Probe Migrant Abuse ClaimsThe Associated Press - 8 hours agoATHENS, Greece (AP) - The government ordered an investigation Tuesday into claims that the Greek coast guard systematically mistreated illegal immigrants heading for the country's eastern islands.

A visit to Dracula's castle in RomaniaLos Angeles Times - 5 hours agoWhen I take my seat, a friend turns to me and says, "Bucovina is seeing Romania in Technicolor and Bucharest is seeing Romania in black and white." I press play on my iPod and look out the window. Red-tasseled horses draw wooden carts laden with ...

U.S. assures Russia on backing of Kosovo

Solana visits Pristina and Belgrade, says short delay in Kosovo ...
Southeast European Times - 51 minutes ago
A brief delay in the final round of UN-mediated talks on Kosovo's status would be acceptable to the EU, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said on Wednesday (February 7th) in Pristina.

Kosovo: € 81 million for mobile license
ECIKS.org - 1 hour ago
This is the second time a second mobile phone operator is being announced in Kosovo. The first time the tender was annulled after interference by the head of UN Mission in Kosovo due to irregularities in the selection of the operator.

Draft-bill on backing Macedonia's, Albania's, Croatia's and ...
MRT online - 5 hours ago
A draft-bill backing Macedonia's, Albania's, Croatia's and Georgia's accepting into NATO, proposed by the Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar has been presented at US Senate.

University students hold mass rallies across Greece
Monsters and Critics.com - 1 hour ago
Private tertiary education institutions are banned from operating in Greece and the conservative government believes the new law, allowing for the operation of private universities, would lead to greater competitiveness and higher educational standards ...

Macedonia and Bulgaria noted as participants in child pornography ...
Focus News - 30 minutes ago
The BETA agency cites information of the Austrian investigation authorities, according to which video recordings of children subjected to sexual harassment were confiscated from several countries including Macedonia. Other countries include Serbia, ...

Krivokapic says Montenegro lags behind because of Serbia
Makfax - 2 hours ago
"In the past 15 years, while being a part of a state union with Serbia, Montenegro had the worst period in its history - in terms of economy, politics and what is more important Montenegro was crippled as a state and as a society," Krivokapic said in ...

U.S. assures Russia on backing of Kosovo

By Nicholas Kralev
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 8, 2007

The United States has assured Russia that Washington's support for Kosovo's eventual independence from Serbia does not mean it will back the breakaway aspirations of Russian autonomous regions in the Caucasus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday.
Moscow, in sympathy with Belgrade, has been reluctant to join American and European endorsements of a plan proposed by U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari that would lead to independence for Kosovo in all but name.
"I have talked very often to the Russians, first of all, that Kosovo is a precedent for nothing, which is a very important point to make," Miss Rice told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in reference to Moscow's fear that Kosovo's independence might encourage separatist forces in Russian regions such as Chechnya and North Ossetia.
"We need to recognize that the longer this drags out, the more likely we are to have a breakdown in order in Kosovo itself," the secretary said during testimony on President Bush's fiscal 2008 foreign affairs budget proposal. "We believe that the Ahtisaari plan deserves support."
Kosovo has been a U.N. protectorate since the 1999 NATO war with Serbia over President Slobodan Milosevic's policies in the province, which led to "ethnic cleansing" targeting Kosovo's majority Albanian population.
Mr. Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, heads a yearlong process whose last phase is a round of talks with Serbs and Kosovo's leaders. He has invited both sides to meet in Vienna, Austria, next week.
But Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica asked yesterday for a 10-day delay to convene the country's new parliament elected last month. He said the legislature must choose a new Kosovo negotiating team to guarantee its credibility.
Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, met with Mr. Kostunica in Belgrade yesterday and said a brief delay would be acceptable.
Nevertheless, Mr. Kostunica indicated that Serbia will not agree to independence for Kosovo.
"Serbia will be constructive, but it will also be unbending in its efforts to ensure respect ... for its territorial integrity," he said at a press conference.
Russia, a traditional Serbian ally whose position is that a solution should not be imposed on Serbia, has said that Belgrade should be "constructive."
Miss Rice noted NATO's inclusion of Serbia in its Partnership for Peace program, which could lead to eventual membership in the alliance.
"We don't want a revanchist and angry Serbia," she said. "So we are working with our European allies to make sure that Serbia understands that it belongs in Europe."
But Kosovar Albanians have warned that their patience is running out. They blame the eight-year political limbo for a stagnant economy and an unemployment rate of 50 percent.
Both Miss Rice and Mr. Solana urged Kosovo to step up to the task of building democratic institutions.
"The Kosovars have a responsibility, too, to protect minority rights, to make certain that Serbs feel that they can really live there," Miss Rice said. "We are having equally difficult and tough, sometimes, discussions with the Kosovo Albanians about their responsibilities."

U.S. assures Russia on backing of Kosovo - World - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Kosovo’s economic growth rate is 5%

U.S envoy to Kosovo Frank Wisner speaks and gestures during a press conference after talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, in Belgrade, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007. Wisner's visit is part of stepped up diplomatic activity following the presentation last week of the plan for Kosovo drafted by the U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Serbia awaits word on plea for Kosovo delay

Reuters AlertNet - 1 hour ago
BELGRADE, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Serbia was still hoping major powers would delay final talks on a United Nations plan for the eventual independence of its Kosovo province, despite a US envoy's refusal to be drawn on its request on Tuesday.

ECIKS.org

Ruecker: Kosovo’s economic growth rate is 5%
ECIKS.org - 4 hours ago
Prishtina, 6 February 2007 - UNMIK chief Joachim Rücker has told BBC that as both Serbia and Kosovo aspire to become part of the European Union, they will seriously consider the strong encouragement by the European Union to engage in consultations with ...

Albania, Bulgaria appeal to EU to allow the reopening of nuclear ...
Southeast European Times - 4 hours ago
"Bulgaria doesn't have the capacity to help Albania if the two units remain closed," Stanishev said. "The impacts of reactors' closure will be seen not only in Albania, but also in the other neighbouring countries. I think the countries of the region ...
Bulgaria to Get EUR 450 M for Wild Life Preservation
Sofia News Agency - 54 minutes ago
Bulgaria: In the next seven years Bulgaria will receive over EUR 450 M from the European Union for the preservation of country's wild life.

Greece won't hinder Macedonia's EU, NATO bid
Makfax - 6 hours ago
Greece, however, spelled out its only condition - Macedonia to be referred to as FYROM in all documents, Ta Nea daily said, adding that this strategy was agreed at a closed-door meeting in the Greek Foreign Ministry, focusing on name dispute with ...

Macedonia police arrest Serb murder, kidnapping suspect sought by ...
International Herald Tribune - 1 hour ago
SKOPJE, Macedonia: Macedonian police have arrested a Serbian man sought by Interpol and suspected of murder, kidnapping and robberies in Belgium, officials said Monday.

Rosemary diCarlo: we stand behind Macedonia's membership in NATO
Makfax - 2 hours ago
The United States of America supports fully Macedonia's accession to NATO, once the country completes the process of standards fulfilling in a year's time.

Playfuls.com

Lindh killer's Serbia move rejected
Ireland Online - 1 hour ago
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service said it turned down Mijailo Mijailovic’s request because authorities in Belgrade could not specify how long his prison term would be in Serbia. Mijailovic, 28, is serving a life sentence at the Kumla prison in ...

US Urges Support for UN Kosovo Plan

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, right, talks on a news conference following his meeting with Kosovo's oppositional leader Hashim Thaci, left, in Macedonia's capital Skopje, Saturday, Feb.

UN Kosovo plan shows deep fault lines
Houston Chronicle - 1 hour ago
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented his proposal on Friday to officials in Belgrade and to ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo. The plan, which must be approved by the Security Council, spelled out conditions for internationally supervised self-rule for ...
Serbian leaders close ranks after UN envoy proposes self-rule for ... International Herald Tribune
UN Kosovo Plan Shows Deep Fault Lines Washington Post

US Urges Support for UN Kosovo Plan
HULIQ - 3 hours ago
The United States Friday called the newly released Kosovo settlement plan of UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari fair and balanced, and urged authorities in both Serbia and Kosovo to work toward a final settlement. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is ...

B92

BALKANS: FOCUS - FEW MOURN UN CHIEF PROSECUTOR DEL PONTE'S EXIT
AKI - Feb 2, 2007
Belgrade, 2 Feb. (AKI) - Politicians, commentators and people in the street from the countries of the former Yugoslavia had no kind words on Friday for the departing chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former ...


Albania backs UN envoy's plan on Kosovo
People's Daily Online - 13 hours ago
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population, are demanding independence, while Serbia and Serbs in Kosovo want it to remain inside Serbia.
Balkan jigsaw seeks final piece BBC News
Kosovo says Yes to UN plan, Serbia says No Reuters

Playfuls.com

Bulgaria ,France decide to establish strategic relationship
People's Daily Online - 16 hours ago
Bulgaria and France will be not only good friends, but also strategic partners in the European Union ( EU), Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told a news conference held jointly with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin on Friday, ...

5.8 magnitude quake jolts southern Greece
International Herald Tribune - 3 hours ago
ATHENS, Greece: A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rattled southern Greece on Saturday, the Athens Geodynamic Institute reported.

Macedonia backs Kosovo blueprint, defying Serbia
Reuters AlertNet - 3 hours ago
Macedonia has a large Albanian minority -- roughly 25 percent out of a population of 2 million -- and is anxious to avoid fresh instability in Kosovo that might spill across their joint border.

B92

Del Ponte Opposes New EU Talks with Serbia
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - 21 hours ago
But several states - including Spain, Hungary and Slovenia - have said in recent weeks that the EU must not isolate Serbia, especially since Belgrade's cooperation will be crucial in ensuring a peaceful deal on the final status of Kosovo.

Slovenia: Amnesty International condemns forcible return of ...
Amnesty International USA - Feb 2, 2007
Amnesty International is concerned that the Slovenian authorities have not restored retroactively the status of permanent residents of those "erased" in 1992 and, in this case, have deported from Slovenia one of them, with his family.

Kosovo: impatience grows

Kosovo: impatience grows
Helsingin Sanomat - 23 minutes ago
With its plastic finger, the mannequin points at a transparent box one metre high containing maps and posters of Kosovo monasteries, as well as cartoons mocking the United Nations.

Kosovo: investments in waste management
ECIKS.org - 1 hour ago
Prishtina, 30 January 2007 - Four prestigious German and Swiss companies have expressed interest in building a company that recycles waste and turns it into energy in Kosovo. However, UNMIK ist delaying the decision to allow this investment.

Mojsiu calls UN to declare independence of Kosovo
Makfax - 17 minutes ago
"The wars that broke out in the wake of Yugoslavia's disintegration and the time Kosovo has spent under UN Administration confirms that the status should reflect the wish of the majority of Kosovo's population as well as the international community's ...

About that coal in Kosovo
Fistful of Euros - 3 hours ago
I say “over twenty years” because even back in the 1980s, the Kosovo coal fields were the ugly stepsister of Yugoslav energy.

Reuters AlertNet

Helping regardless of national affiliation in Kosovo
Reuters AlertNet - 6 hours ago
January 2007 saw the launch of two family strengthening programmes in Kosovo, located in the vicinity of SOS Children's Village Pristina.

Hовини.bg

RTK: Albania and Bulgaria Support Marti Ahtisaari’s
Focus News - 2 hours ago
Albania and Bulgaria confirmed their support for the plan of Marti Ahtisaari for the statute of Kosovo, RTK reports. The Prime Ministers of the two countries - Sali Berisa and Sergey Stanishev �-aid yesterday in Tirana that they support the decision ...

MRT online

Bulgaria Signs Deal for Danube Bridge
Houston Chronicle - 4 hours ago
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria signed a euro100 million (about US$130 million) deal on Tuesday for a new bridge across the River Danube with Spanish construction company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA.

Olive tree leaves spark frenzy in Greece, one dead
Khaleej Times - 12 minutes ago
Supermarkets on the oil-producing island of Crete and in Athens started stocking the leaves that, in some cases, cost more than the oil itself, which is renowned for its health benefits and known as liquid gold in Greece.

Ochrid Agreement is Macedonia’s Entrance Ticket for the EU: Jan ...
Focus News - 2 hours ago
‘The Ochrid agreement is the entrance ticked of Macedonia for the European Union. Ignoring and disregarding it could jeopardize the country’s membership in EU’, Jan Marinus Wiersma, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary faction of PES in the European ...

Rupel says Mladic's arrest is not prerequisite for EU-Serbia talks
Makfax - 43 minutes ago
European Union will not set Ratko Mladic's arrest as a precondition for resumption of stabilization and association negotiations with Serbia, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said. In an interview with weekly newspaper European Voice, ...

Deputy Charges Slovenia Police Over Gypsy
Romano Vod'i - 5 hours ago
Slovenia's ombudsman is charging police for unauthorized surveillance of reporters and a relocated Gypsy family, media said Wednesday.

Boston Globe

Hrant Dink: Turkey remembers
Café Babel - 5 hours ago
«‘Hrant was the perfect target for those who want to hinder the democratisation of Turkey and its entry into the European Union’, declared a reporter for Agos, the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly of which Hrant Dink was co-founder and editor in chief ...

Back

The new year is here. All the crazy stuff that has been going on in the world makes me think it is alread an old year. I would single out the cocaine bust, which was made possible by the cooperation of the Montenegrin, Kosovar and Macedonian customs services. Anyway, it is amazing how a cargo of cocaine can go from Venezuela through, Spain and Italy to Greece without being noticed. And all this organized by a woman (Stanislava Čočorovski Poletan) that runs her 'business' in her apartment in Belgrade. Kudos to the people that cought it.

Weapons, gypsies, monks, war criminals etc

Some interesting developments going on in Kosovo. The Kosovo police seized some weapons and arrested some people in central Kosovo. This has quite a few implications: 1. Kosovo police did a good job. Kudos to them. 2. Are these weapons left from the war or brought in recently? 3. Are the extremists preparing for the worst case scenario?

In any case, this is definitely a message to that the status process should move quickly. It is interesting that this find came right after the ICG report which urges for fast EU action. Let's hope the worst case scenario doesn't happen, and we get this over with.

Meanwhile, the craziness in Slovenia is going on and gets more interesting. This time the authorities demolished the houses of the gypsy families. Wow!

EU inaction could see 'crisis' in Kosovo, NGO warns
EUobserver.com, Belgium - 11 hours ago
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU procrastination and internal division on the future status of Kosovo could see the region relapse into instability, ...

Kosovo police seize arms, arrest 3 people
DailyIndia.com, FL - 5 hours ago
PRISTINA, Serbia, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Police and NATO troops in Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province seized a large number of weapons and arrested ...

U.S. Deports Bosnian Serb War Suspects
Two Serbs deported to Bosnia for lying to U.S. immigration officers about their role in the 1991-95 Yugoslav war are to be charged with war crimes.

Mladen Blagojevic, 35, and Zdravko Bozic, 42, are the first Bosnian Serbs sent by U.S. authorities to their native Bosnia-Herzegovina to face charges of being involved in the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in July 1995 at Srebrenica.

Playfuls.com

Resolving Kosovo status is of Serbian interest
MRT online - Dec 20, 2006
NATO Deputy Secretary-General, Alessandro Minuto Rizzo, gave a statement in Belgrade today, saying that resolving of the Kosovo status issue is in the best interest of Serbia and that that issue will be solved in the course of the next year.

EU Opens New Areas In Entry Talks With Croatia, Urges More Action
Playfuls.com - 3 hours ago
The European Union on Thursday started membership negotiations on three new areas with Croatia and urged the EU-hopeful to step up economic reform efforts to meet the bloc's entry standards.
Poll: Croatians among biggest EU skeptics United Press International

Alarab online

Bulgaria Wants To Take Libyan "torturers" To Court
Playfuls.com - 3 hours ago
Meanwhile, action was continuing in support of the nurses in Bulgaria Thursday, with Bulgarian Orthodox Church leaders calling for people to pray for their release.
Bulgaria's President Discusses Medics' Fate With Bush Sofia News Agency
Outrage in Bulgaria over death sentences for nurses in Libya AIDS ... San Diego Union Tribune

Wyoming News

EC Accelerates Staff Recruitment from Bulgaria, Romania
Sofia News Agency - 3 hours ago
With just over one week to go before Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union, preparations are well under way to welcome not only two new Commissioners, but also hundreds of officials at all levels of the Commission.

Rebel Monks Holed Up at Chapel in Greece
Forbes - 18 minutes ago
Monks at the rebel Esphigmenou monastery in northern Greece have turned against other monasteries on the all-male, self-governing peninsula of Mount Athos.

Playfuls.com

Slovenia Pulls Down Gypsy Homes
Playfuls.com - 2 hours ago
Demolition teams Thursday pulled down homes of a Gypsy family at Ambrus, Slovenia, on land the family legally owned, local media reported.

Playfuls.com

“EU is Not Ready to Conduct Negotiations with Turkey!”
Journal of Turkish Weekly - 6 hours ago
JTW - At the last meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) dated 20 December, there became a consensus on the subject that one chapter would be opened within the framework of Turkey-EU negotiations. The chapter on which the EU ...