ATHENS - The International Olympic Committee this week started a three-day inspection visit to check on the Greek capital's preparations for next year's Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Athens Olympic officials and police have begun a crackdown on sellers of fake Olympic souvenirs.
BELGRADE - Former Serbian presidential candidate Miroljub Labus has said that the current union of Serbia-Montenegro cannot be made to work and was detrimental to Serbian interests. There was no political will in either Serbia or Montenegro to hold the union together, and the state would not last beyond 2005, he said.
BUDAPEST - Plans to step up the privatisation of the cash-strapped Hungarian health service were announced by the government last week at a conference on May 23 attended by doctors, medical workers' representatives and possible future investors.
BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's parliament has amended the labour code to forbid employers from asking employees about their sexual orientation, as a step against discrimination against homosexuals. But gay activists say this does not go far enough, and want a specific law is to punish such discrimination.
CHISINAU - The European Union's Research Institute for Security has proposed a federal solution to the Transdniester conflict, with direct EU participation in resolving the issue. The plan does not have official EU endorsement, and is to be discussed by the EU Council of Ministers.
ISTANBUL - Turkey and Greece are continuing contacts to find resolutions to their issues over the Aegean. This week, Turkish foreign ministry under-secretary Ugur Ziyal met Greek foreign ministry secretary-general Anastase Skopelitis in Ankara. They said their talks had been fruitful. Turkey wants to comprehensively address such issues as the continental shelves, airspace, islets and territorial waters, while Greece claims that the sole Aegean issue is continental shelves, which it says should be decided by the Court of International Justice. The next meeting on these issues is scheduled to be held in Athens in July.
OHRID - The presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia-Montenegro have met to discuss strategies for the EU Thessaloniki summit, and were expected to adopt a declaration calling for Brussels to set clear guidelines for their countries' admission to the EU, enabling them to speed up reforms.
PRAGUE - Defence minister Jaroslav Tvrdik resigned last Saturday, just hours after having withdrawn a resignation he submitted the previous day. He fell out with the government over its plans for reduced military spending.
WARSAW - As Poland prepares its peacekeeping mission in Iraq, PKN Orlen, the country's top oil producer, is trying vigorously to enter the Iraqi market to ensure access to oil reserves that would guarantee the company's further growth, industry experts said.
ZAGREB - Prime minister Ivica Racan said he hoped that the United States would not insist on a bilateral extradition-immunity agreement that would exempt US citizens from handover to the International Criminal Court. However, he wanted Croatia to reach a mutually acceptable deal with the US, he said.
BELGRADE - Former Serbian presidential candidate Miroljub Labus has said that the current union of Serbia-Montenegro cannot be made to work and was detrimental to Serbian interests. There was no political will in either Serbia or Montenegro to hold the union together, and the state would not last beyond 2005, he said.
BUDAPEST - Plans to step up the privatisation of the cash-strapped Hungarian health service were announced by the government last week at a conference on May 23 attended by doctors, medical workers' representatives and possible future investors.
BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's parliament has amended the labour code to forbid employers from asking employees about their sexual orientation, as a step against discrimination against homosexuals. But gay activists say this does not go far enough, and want a specific law is to punish such discrimination.
CHISINAU - The European Union's Research Institute for Security has proposed a federal solution to the Transdniester conflict, with direct EU participation in resolving the issue. The plan does not have official EU endorsement, and is to be discussed by the EU Council of Ministers.
ISTANBUL - Turkey and Greece are continuing contacts to find resolutions to their issues over the Aegean. This week, Turkish foreign ministry under-secretary Ugur Ziyal met Greek foreign ministry secretary-general Anastase Skopelitis in Ankara. They said their talks had been fruitful. Turkey wants to comprehensively address such issues as the continental shelves, airspace, islets and territorial waters, while Greece claims that the sole Aegean issue is continental shelves, which it says should be decided by the Court of International Justice. The next meeting on these issues is scheduled to be held in Athens in July.
OHRID - The presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia-Montenegro have met to discuss strategies for the EU Thessaloniki summit, and were expected to adopt a declaration calling for Brussels to set clear guidelines for their countries' admission to the EU, enabling them to speed up reforms.
PRAGUE - Defence minister Jaroslav Tvrdik resigned last Saturday, just hours after having withdrawn a resignation he submitted the previous day. He fell out with the government over its plans for reduced military spending.
WARSAW - As Poland prepares its peacekeeping mission in Iraq, PKN Orlen, the country's top oil producer, is trying vigorously to enter the Iraqi market to ensure access to oil reserves that would guarantee the company's further growth, industry experts said.
ZAGREB - Prime minister Ivica Racan said he hoped that the United States would not insist on a bilateral extradition-immunity agreement that would exempt US citizens from handover to the International Criminal Court. However, he wanted Croatia to reach a mutually acceptable deal with the US, he said.
