Sat, May 26 2012
Ivo Sanader, then Croatian prime minister, during a visit to Sofia in August 2004.
Photo: Reuters
The accession treaty will be signed in December 2011. Croatia is scheduled to become an EU member on July 1 2013 after the treaty is ratified by all EU member states and Croatia itself.
The former prime minister was arrested in Austria in December and was extradited to Croatia in July. He has been accused of accepting bribes and embezzling millions of dollars from government-owned companies.
The court in Salzburg will decide on May 9 if former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader will be extradited to Croatia, held in detention for a further 60 days or released on bail.
The government said Sanader, who earlier left the country, was wanted for allegedly taking part in a criminal activity and abuse of power for personal financial gain. Sanader says the accusations against him are politically motivated.
Sanader fled hours after officials probing government graft asked parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution.
Croatian prime minister concedes border dispute with Slovenia contributed to his decision to quit; Slovenia says it hopes Croatia’s EU prospects get back on track.
Sanader announces withdrawal from politics, without giving reasons; his resignation means that, by law, his cabinet is out of office too.
Governments in Prague and Bucharest could soon join Sofia in instituting temporary moratoriums on shale gas exploration.
Coalition around ruling Democratic Party has largest share of vote in Serbia's parliamentary election, according to exit polls.
Centre-right New Democracy is said by exit polls to have largest share of votes, but diminished even from its 2009 defeat, while socialists Pasok – the 2009 victors – gets somewhere around 14 to 17 per cent.
An agreement reached with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will allow voters with dual citizenship in Kosovo to vote in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia.
Twenty radical Muslims suspected of being members of a terrorist group that has been linked to the murder of five fishermen in early April.