tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54976770889941914762012-02-16T15:19:28.660+01:00ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comBlogger261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-89279120642430549402008-12-16T10:59:00.004+01:002008-12-16T11:28:39.767+01:00

Despite a generally positive report on Belgrade's cooperation, “Netherlands will not change its position when it comes to Serbia's EU integration” said Maxime Verhagen, Dutch Foreign Affaires Minister.Monday in New York the Chief Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz presented his regular report to the UN Security Council, citing arrests of fugitives as the main issue remaining in Belgrade's

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-11847822681529149582008-12-15T12:20:00.001+01:002008-12-15T12:22:47.937+01:00

The EU has made significant progress in coordinating its security and defence policies since the historic Franco-British security summit in Saint Malo in 1998. Under the French EU presidency, further advancement of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has been a major policy objective. The gains are real but European defence cooperation still has a long way to go if the reality is to match

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-4282632224657064362008-12-11T12:48:00.005+01:002008-12-11T13:18:37.993+01:00

EULEX mission deploys in northKOSOVO/EUThe first policemen, customs officers and legal officials began deploying as part of the EU's EULEX justice-and-law mission yesterday. The 1,900-strong mission includes more than 100 for the Serb-dominated north, which is loyal to Belgrade rather than Pristina and opposes Kosovo's independence from Serbia. Their task is to provide the local authorities with

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-17441822870090360632008-12-10T14:19:00.001+01:002008-12-10T14:19:53.198+01:00

The trial of a former head of defence procurement accused of stealing diamonds risked breaking down after the key witness refused to testify. The witness, Hrovje Petrac, claimed he was too scared to do so following the death in October of his friend Ivo Pukanic, an influential journalist, in a car bomb. Pukanic's killing followed the apparent contract execution of Ivana Hodak, daughter of a

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-22926753956069251292008-12-05T14:55:00.002+01:002008-12-05T15:06:29.548+01:00

Javier SOLANA, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) today announced that the EULEX mission in Kosovo will start its mandate on Tuesday 9 December 2008."I very much welcome the declaration of initial operational capability for the EULEX mission in Kosovo. The mission can now start its work.The EULEX mission is deployed in order to assist Kosovo in its progress

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-61051262257260538582008-12-05T14:03:00.004+01:002008-12-05T14:20:09.540+01:00

The war between Georgia and Russia overshadowed a the OSCE meeting in Helsinki yesterday. The foreign ministers of 50 countries aimed to have make a step ahead on improving regional security and solving conflicts between members.«We all know the situation (in Georgia) is still fragile and all sides must strictly adhere to the cease-fire agreement,» President of Finland Tarja Halonen said in her

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-75541014693583439292008-12-04T13:37:00.003+01:002008-12-04T13:48:10.858+01:00

NATO will gradually re-engage with Russia, with ambassadors meeting informally at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), the alliance foreign ministers decided yesterday. This is a compromise between those members pushing for resuming contacts suspended in September after Russia's invasion of Georgia, and those unhappy with Russian non-compliance with the cease-fire.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-79627244957733267522008-12-04T13:06:00.002+01:002008-12-04T13:08:54.775+01:00

The European Union will push harder for a pipeline to carry natural gas from the Caspian Sea region to Europe while bypassing Russia. Russia's war with Georgia underscores the need to step up preparations for the Nabucco pipeline, EU special representative Pierre Morel said after meeting with the leader of gas-rich Turkmenistan, President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov.«I was able to confirm to the

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-40707277377752642192008-12-04T12:29:00.001+01:002008-12-04T12:32:12.652+01:00

The case of three Germans suspected of bombing the EU's Kosovo headquarters may pass to an international judge, said Anton Nokaj of the Pristina District Court.The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has confirmed that the three arrested five days after a bomb went off outside the International Civilian Office of EU Special Representative Peter Feith on November 14 are its agents. The Pristina

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-22105735263480188522008-11-27T14:43:00.002+01:002008-11-27T14:49:10.844+01:00

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso outlined proposals for an EU-wide economic stimulus package worth 200 billion euros (259 billion dollars), describing both the package and the crisis it faced as "exceptional".While the Commission will redirect some money to the bailout -- by bringing forward structural and regional spending, and attaching fewer conditions to it -- most of the

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-19092053589612415002008-11-27T14:37:00.003+01:002008-11-27T14:43:01.785+01:00

US/NATO: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appears to have launched a fresh diplomatic push yesterday, ahead of next week's meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, to allow Georgia and Ukraine to bypass NATO's Membership Action Plan process and receive fast-track admission to the alliance.According to the New York Times, up to ten NATO member states opposed the US initiative, citing

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-17255419409546179542008-11-27T14:27:00.003+01:002008-11-27T14:36:28.232+01:00

The U.N. Security Council gave the go ahead yesterday for the deployment of a EU mission throughout Kosovo under the international organization's umbrella. EULEX was to deploy soon after Kosovo seceded from Serbia on Feb. 17 to promote peace, justice and the rule of law. But it was stalled in part because of objections from Serbia which continues to insist Kosovo remains part of its territory.

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-73495196243541848522008-11-26T14:50:00.002+01:002008-11-26T15:05:50.528+01:00

Russia is still failing to meet its cease-fire obligations with Georgia and Washington's European allies must not overlook this and rush to embrace Moscow, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday. Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said Moscow must pull back its forces as agreed in a French-brokered cease-fire that ended the war in August before

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-24620687108550397782008-11-25T15:21:00.002+01:002008-11-25T16:00:45.080+01:00

President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday ordered Gazprom to collect a 2.4 billion dollar debt from Kiev on a "compulsory or goodwill basis", signalling the start of another round of contentious annual negotiations to determine the price and quantity of natural gas that Ukraine receives from Russia. Approximately 80% of Russian gas supplies to Europe transit Ukraine, which gives the Ukrainian

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-26620220427118169192008-11-24T13:52:00.002+01:002008-11-24T13:55:32.830+01:00

The UN Security Council session on the reconfiguration of the international civilian presence in Kosovo will be held on Wednesday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to submit his report on the reconfiguration. The EU's mission, EULEX, would then be able to deploy at the start of December.Serbian television B92 stressed that the plan would leave UNMIK only in Serb-dominated areas, while

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-39088792044464683952008-11-21T13:38:00.002+01:002008-11-21T13:56:42.367+01:00

The UN Security Council will convene to discuss Kosovo on Monday or Tuesday, Serbien Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić has told B92 - Serbian television. Jeremić said that Serbia had received assurances that the six-point plan would not be amended. The UN secretary-general’s spokesman Brandon Varma said that there was a chance that Ban Ki-moon might publish his report on the UNMIK reconfiguration and

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-1667716931858695752008-11-21T13:34:00.000+01:002008-11-21T13:37:57.538+01:00

The EU will continue to prepare to deploy its EULEX law-and-order mission to Kosovo despite lack of support from both Pristina and Belgrade. The UN has proposed a six-point plan to 'reconfigure' the international presence in Kosovo, but Serbia decided on Tuesday to pull out of talks on EULEX's deployment, immediately after Pristina rejected the UN plan.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-17670692833250549872008-11-19T13:40:00.003+01:002008-11-19T14:13:14.632+01:00

Croatia won the right Tuesday to sue Serbia for genocide after the UN’s highest court ruled it has the legal power to decide the case. The decision marks the second time Serbia will face the allegation of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Bosnia also accused Serbia's forces during the brutal conflicts that followed its secession from Yugoslavia. Croatia alleged that Serb attacks

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-26277142757804827662008-11-17T14:07:00.002+01:002008-11-17T14:20:40.747+01:00

There was no joint written declaration, but several interesting results to announce following the EU-Russia Summit in Nice on Friday 14 November, with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and an EU delegation led by Nicolas Sarkozy, Javier Solana and José Manuel Barroso:1) Europeans and Russians came to a “virtually common” position on overhauling the world financial system, which they pushed

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-56925813459070005822008-11-14T15:05:00.002+01:002008-11-14T15:08:50.854+01:00

Limits to Russia's strategic aspirationsEU foreign ministers are expected to agree today to relaunch negotiations on the EU-Russia partnership treaty. The EU postponed the talks on September 1, following Moscow's "unacceptable" military invasion of Georgia in August; resumption was made conditional on Moscow's compliance with the EU ceasefire agreement. Although a unanimous decision of all 27

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-14238267097730896502008-11-13T15:47:00.002+01:002008-11-13T16:00:28.048+01:00

Vladimir Putin suggested that Russia might call off construction of the Europe-bound Nord Stream natural gas pipeline unless Europe offers more support for the project. The 7.4 billion euro (US$9.4 billion) export project is intended to bypass Poland and the Baltic countries, running from Russia to Europe along the bed of the Baltic Sea. Russia wants to diversify its westward export routes to

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-24120776118549660652008-11-12T13:58:00.000+01:002008-11-12T14:01:43.462+01:00

Les dirigeants serbes bosniaques se sont félicités mardi de la volonté de l'UE de prendre le relais d'ici à la mi-2009 du Haut représentant de la communauté internationale en Bosnie, une mesure qui répond à l'une de leurs exigences. Cela veut dire que "la Republika Srpska (RS) et la Bosnie ont entamé une nouvelle phase, européenne", qui doit, selon eux, être marquée par la passation aux mains des

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-8116215902916175022008-11-12T13:55:00.003+01:002008-11-12T14:06:27.955+01:00

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Kosovo's leaders on Tuesday to show flexibility and approve a UN-Serbian agreement to allow a proposed EU police and judicial mission to operate in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north. Ban told a news conference he was disappointed that his proposal and negotiations with the Serbian government which agreed on six points was met with opposition from the Pristina

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-79385404927378071722008-11-12T13:51:00.002+01:002008-11-12T13:54:57.784+01:00

Diplomatic sources saing that the next round of talks on a partnership agreement between the European Union and Russia may take place on Nov. 25. More details will be announced after the forthcoming EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday.

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-24894784433320134872008-11-11T16:52:00.000+01:002008-11-11T17:13:39.792+01:00

Les Européens ont décidé lundi de reprendre les négociations sur un partenariat renforcé avec la Russie, passant outre l'opposition de la Lituanie qui craint un retour au "business as usual" avec Moscou. L'Union européenne a pris cette décision quatre jours avant un sommet entre les dirigeants européens et le président Dmitri Medvedev à Nice. Et après que la Pologne, qui restait avec la Lituanie

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497677088994191476.post-54758680442165913242008-11-10T12:33:00.000+01:002008-11-10T13:00:29.059+01:00

EU SET TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIAEuropean Union foreign ministers will discuss on today the possible restart of negotiations on a wide-ranging partnership accord with Russia that were frozen after Moscow sent troops into Georgia. The chances that a long-planned EU-Russia summit on the French Riviera on Friday will then relaunch the talks at the weekend. Most EU states argue it is time to

ABENA PRESShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00140566486001166462noreply@blogger.com