Tue 10 Nov 2009
Today the Moldovan parliament held a scheduled vote to attempt to elect the country’s next President. The only Presidential candidate, Marian Lupu (Democratic Party) received all 53 votes from the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) MPs, a bloc representing democratic parties previously in the opposition . However, 61 out of the 101 votes are needed to be elected. The Communist Party, in opposition since the July 29th early parliamentary elections, refused to provide the 8 missing votes for a candidate that left its ranks before the elections and is considered a ‘traitor’ by many Communists.
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Fri 6 Nov 2009
Presidential elections in Croatia will be held on 27 December. The cabinet decided this during its session on 30 October. If a run-off is required, it will be held on 10 January. The decision sets potential candidates in motion, beginning 12 days allotted them to collect signatures from their backers. Authorities then have two days to verify those signatures before formal campaigning begins. Incumbent President Stipe Mesic is wrapping up his second term and cannot seek re-election.
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Thu 5 Nov 2009
On 4 November Slovenia and Croatia have signed a border arbitration deal, paving the way for the two countries to clear up a nearly two-decade-old dispute that has held up Croatia's EU bid.
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Tue 3 Nov 2009
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On November 3rd the Moldovan parliament decided to hold Presidential elections on November 10th. Previously, the elections was meant to take place on October 23rd. However, as they would have only featured one candidate – Marian Lupu from the Alliance for European Integration - the special commission for the election of the head of state suggested that the Parliament should postpone the voting.
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Tue 3 Nov 2009
A working draft of the Law on Determining the Jurisdiction of Vojvodina, which arranges issues important for the position of the Serbian province will be discussed in the Serbian assembly next week. According to the President of the Executive Council of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtić all dilemmas and disputes have been resolved and governing parties support the proposals. However, League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) is criticizing the draft and warns that they do not support this version as it does not respect the basic principles of the autonomy of the province.
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Mon 2 Nov 2009
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the weekend ruled out the option of holding early Parliamentary elections ahead of those scheduled for 2011. "From now on, elections will be held at set dates, with possible variations of a month or two," Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul, in response to media reports suggesting the government is looking to hold early elections in 2010. Analysts have said it is a possibility, given anticipated economic growth next year. The economic crisis this year has forced the government to increase spending by about 10%, amid high unemployment.
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Wed 28 Oct 2009
In a major foreign policy speech pronounced on Monday (26 October), UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for Turkey's full membership of the EU, provided that the candidate country satisfies human rights standards and addresses the role of the military and the separation of powers. Miliband also spoke about Europe's responsibility to integrate the Western Balkans, highlighting the need to solve current setbacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a broader sense, he said that by enlarging, the EU has become stronger, and that all had benefited from this – both older members and newcomers.
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Tue 27 Oct 2009
Last week (on 21 October) in Stockholm Mr Arjen Berkvens, director of the Dutch Alfred Mozer Stichting and Secretary General of the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, was elected the new network coordinator of the European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP). Mr Berkvens will fulfil this position for two years.
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Tue 27 Oct 2009
The European Union has lifted an arms embargo today against Uzbekistan, despite continuing concerns about human rights in the Central Asian country. The embargo was imposed in 2005, after Uzbek government troops killed more than 100 mainly unarmed opposition protesters in the city of Andijan, and the authorities rejected calls for an international inquiry into the events.
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Tue 27 Oct 2009
On Monday 26 of October the trial of Radovan Karadžić started, almost 14 years after the issuance of an indictment by the International Criminal tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), without the suspect. One of the highest ranking officials to be indicted by the Tribunal, former President of Republika Srpska, head of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and Supreme Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), refused to appear before the court, claiming he is not ready for the trail as he needs more time to prepare his defence.
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Mon 26 Oct 2009
On 25 October incumbent President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali won the Presidential elections with a landslide victory of 89.62 per cent of the votes. Ben Ali, who has been in power for 22 years, was re-elected for a new five-year term. The ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), also held on to the vast majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Official figures say the Presidential had a turnout of 84 per cent. International human rights groups have alleged, however, that campaigning took place in an atmosphere of repression.
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Mon 26 Oct 2009
The second round of crucial high-level talks, aimed at ending Bosnia & Herzegovina's complicated political impasse, ended last week (21 October) without any results. No agreement was made on giving the central government a stronger role over the semi-independent Serbian and Muslim-Croat entities. Negotiations will continue at a technical level, but most informed commentators and diplomats see little chance of a breakthrough.
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Sun 25 Oct 2009
The Newsflash of the European Forum of Democracy and Solidarity is a bi-monthly news bulletin covering relevant political developments in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, and the South Caucasus. We put main accent on political party news, while at the same time attention is being given to gender issues, minority and human rights, and the process of accession to the European Union.
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Thu 22 Oct 2009
On Friday 16 October the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) office in Skopje and the Macedonian Progres Institute for Social Democracy organized a conference in Skopje on the consequences of the financial crisis for the countries of Western Balkans and social democratic answers to the crisis. Representatives from social democratic parties from Macedonia, the region and the EU, as well as distinguished experts on the topic participated at the conference.
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Wed 21 Oct 2009
Kyrgyzstan’s cabinet resigned on October 20 following President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s announcement of broad plan to restructure the government. Political experts in Bishkek offered guarded praise for Bakiyev’s reform scheme, with some suggesting that it represented perhaps the last, best hope for his administration to contain corruption in the Central Asian state.
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