Opposition protesters switch target

On 26 May protesters ended their blockade of the Tbilisi railway station but threatened instead to occupy the country's international airport. Tens of thousands jammed Tbilisi's main soccer stadium for a rally on 26 May, while hundreds blocked the main railway tracks for around four hours overnight, before dispersing before dawn.

The opposition supporters have been involved in a 2-month protest campaign to try to force President Mikhail Saakashvili to resign. Critics say Saakashvili led Georgia into a disastrous war against Russia last year and controls the country's courts.

Police arrest former National Guard commander on coup charges

On 5 May the Interior Ministry arrested a former commander of the National Guard, General Koba Kobaladze. He was held on suspicion of being involved in the organisation of a military coup uncovered by police.

Kobaladze and the names of several other generals were heard in secret video footage released by the interior ministry the same day. Gia Ghvaladze, who has been already arrested with the same charges, spells out in detail a plan for the uprising. According to the interior ministry report, the plan had been agreed with Russia and the organisers were receiving considerable funding from the Russian Federation. A mutiny at an army barracks had already been brought under control. The military uprising was planned on a large scale, aimed at overthrowing the government and assassinating several senior government officials.

The uprising has been linked to NATO exercises being held in Georgia, which have aroused considerabvle cioncern in Russia. At the end of April Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying that “The planned NATO exercises in Georgia, no matter how often someone tries to convince us otherwise, are an open provocation. Such exercises cannot be conducted in a place where a war has just taken place. … Those who took the decision to conduct them will bear the responsibility for their negative consequences.”

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in a statement on the planned military coup, appealed to the organisers to surrender to the authorities, where their co-operation would be respected.

Saakashvili reviewed recent developments in the country, including the reinforcement of Russian army forces in the country’s occupied regions, and said the escalation of tensions seem to arise over NATO-led military manoeuvres and Georgia’s participation in the EU Prague summit. “The first is a symbolic event, when, after the Russian aggression against Georgia, NATO takes a serious step and conducts military training in Georgia and the second is a historic event, when Georgia signs the treaty on institutional ties with the European Union, its historic partners,” the President said.

According to Saakashvili, Georgia faced the threat of serious provocations from Russia alongside its progress in relations with Europe. The Russians had increased the number of its forces in the occupied regions and had deployed its fleet in Georgian waters. Saakashvili said the epicentre of the Russian plans in Georgia had to be the capital Tblisi, where the riot would have begun. Saakashvili called upon Russia to refrain from provocations in Georgia.

Opposition protests continue in Tbilisi

Thousands of opposition supporters in Georgia have continued protests, demanding that President Mikhail Saakashvili should step down. Demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, then marched on to the presidential palace. Police did not intervene and said the protesters could remain in front of parliament as long as they liked. The police reacted less sympathetically to the blocking of city traffic.

The opposition groups accuse Saakashvili of being increasingly autocratic. Their most bitter criticism is directed at the president's handling of the brief August 2008 war with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The Georgian army was humiliated and the country lost territory as separatists and Russian ‘peace-keepers’ took full control over the secessionist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The demonstrations were reminiscent of the bloodless protests of the Rose Revolution that brought Saakashvili to power five years ago. But the fragmented opposition does not appear to have the necessary support to stage a similar revolt. Saakashvili's party still has broad support throughout Georgia, where many people have been saying they are tired of the political squabbling.

But on 13 April the fifth day of protests in Tbilisi began to show falling turnout and the opposition seemed uncertain of how to continue the campaign. The 60 thousand crowd that turned out on 9 April had reduced to some 20 thousand. Nevertheless Levan Gachechiladze, the main opposition candidate in the 2008 presidential election, addressed supporters: "The fight continues, and today I have the impression that this fight will end soon with your victory."

President Saakashvili has remained resolute in his determination to finish his final term in office and has repeatedly offered to engage in dialogue with the opposition. He claims that it has been Russian oligarchs who have been financing the Georgian opposition.

Human Rights court to hear Georgia versus Russia lawsuit

The European Court of Human Rights has been listed to hear on 16 April the lawsuit of Georgia versus Russia on the expulsion from Russia of Georgian immigrants.

The lawsuit was filed in March 2007. In it Russia is accused of violating the rights of immigrants during their mass deportation from the Russian Federation. The ECHR communiqué says that the lawsuit is tied with the spiralling tensions that developed in late September 2006, following a spying row between Georgia and Russia. Georgia had arrested four officers of the Russian army in the South Caucasus, accusing them of spying for Russia.

The Russian side asserts that Georgia is using the lawsuit to escalate tension in Georgia-Russia relations, while Georgian officials hope that Georgia will win the dispute in the ECHR.

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Property tax to have three bands

The MSzP (the government Socialist party) decided at a faction meeting late on 15 June to propose an amendment on the new property tax. The amendment would leave the original threshold for the tax at 30 million forints (£90,800), then exta bands above that value. High-value residential and recreational property worth 30 million forints or more should be taxable on the basis of the total value.

The rate of taxation would be 0.35% on a property value between 30 and 50 million forints, and 0.5% if the value of any property exceeding 50 million forints (£151,330). In addition to that the latest MSzP proposal is to set another rate of 0.25% on the part of the value below the 30 million limit.

Residential property less than 30 million would be exempt if a first home, but subsequent ownership would be liable above set levels.

The property (or “wealth”) tax would not be deductible from the personal income tax. The cabinet wa said to expect revenues of 40-50 billion each year from the property tax.

Another amendment to the original proposal would exclude the recreational properties of trade unions from the tax. Trades unions have traditionally invested in an üdülő – a holiday property as a worker “rest home”.

Former President Arpad Göncz awarded Saint Adalbert Prize

Czech President Václav Klaus on 13 June presented the former Hungarian president Arpad Göncz with the Saint Adalbert Prize for Peace, Freedom and Co-operation in Europe. Arpad Göncz himself could not be present at the ceremony in Prague for health reasons so the award was accepted in his name by his daughter Kinga Göncz, Foreign Minister in the current government.

The prize comes from the Adalbert Stiftung foundation in Krefeld, Germany, and was awarded for the contribution made by Arpad Göncz to Hungary's peaceful path to democracy and for his long-time efforts to deepen good neighbourly relations on the continent.

Fidesz opposition urges governing Socialists to quit

The opposition Fidesz party yesterday called on the government to resign in light of the results of the European parliamentary elections. Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán claimed on 11 June that voters had withdrawn their confidence in the MSzP (Socialist Party). In a democracy this should be the time for new elections.

In an open letter to Socialist leaders, Fidesz had demanded that the cabinet suspend privatisation procedures until the next elections, and refrain from introducing a property tax, approving a new civil code or re-organising public administration.

Other Fidesz demands state that

	banks should not be subsidised from loans taken abroad,
	the reorganisation of the education system should be halted,
	redundant party politicians should not be appointed to state institutions,
	the process of founding a Hungarian company to take part in the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline project should be stopped.

Viktor Orbán said that if Fidesz came to power it would cancel any decisions the current government took on these matters. There should also be an urgent and immediate inquiry into how the introduction of a property tax came to be inserted into the government’s May agreement with the IMF.

Twenty years since the first section of Iron Curtain was torn down

Saturday 2 May marked the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the end of the “Iron Curtain”. On 2 May 1989 Hungarian border guards began dismantling the physical barrier along the Hungarian-Austrian border. Just some 8 kilometres of barrier were removed, either side of four border crossings between Hungary and Austria.

Hungary was at the time defying its eastern bloc allies and the risk of yet another Russian intervention. But in Russia a new government was looking to open up political and economic relations with the “West”. Mikhail Gorbachev had begun urging the countries in the eastern bloc to join in the process of perestroika and glasnost. But conservative communist leaders thought Gorbachev's reform initiatives would soon peter out – East Germany's Erich Honecker, Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák, and Romania’s Nicolae Ceauşescu stubbornly ignored Russian hints that it was time for change.

As word spread that Hungary had opened its borders to the west, thousands of East Germans and Romanians headed for it, and the border guards were soon overwhelmed. East Germans had long taken holidays in Hungary, and with the opening of the borders they flocked into Austria, and onwards into West Germany, often rejoining relatives in families that had been divided.

By September 1989 Hungary had opened its western border completely. Within three months, the communist regimes of central Europe had collapsed.

Foreign Minister warns that larger EU member states seem to be ‘backing out’

There is a danger that large member states are about to "back out of the EU", Foreign Minister Péter Balázs said in an interview reported on 27 April. Balázs took office on 14 April as a member of new Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai's cabinet.

The foreign minister said Germany had been working “to seize economic institutions and to strengthen the G20” since 2007.

In line with views recently expressed by Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht on 21 April, he argued that the aim of such actions was to leave smaller EU member states behind, with larger EU members preferring to deal with states that have “similar influence and weight”.

The Paris-Berlin link “provides the basis of the EU … It is very difficult to achieve anything in the EU without France or Germany," Balázs thought. But relations between France and Germany were sometimes difficult for other countries. “You do not stand between wrestling elephants!” he suggested.

Gordon Bajnai becomes new Prime Minister

On 14 April a majority in parliament approved a motion proposing that Gordon Bajnai replace Ferenc Gyurcsány as prime minister, a year before the next scheduled elections.The deepest recession in at least 16 years had undermined Gyurcsány’s minority government. Bajnai is not a member of any political party. He had served as economy minister under Gyurcsány and has already anticipated “immediate and painful” spending cuts that he says are needed to protect Hungary’s finances, save thousands of jobs and ultimately allow the country to adopt the euro.

Hungary was the first European Union member to receive financial help last year, getting €20 billion in loans organised by the International Monetary Fund. The Hungarian forint has had a very bad year.

Ferenc Gyurcsány announced his resignation on 21 March, conceding that a replacement with wider political backing was needed to boost the economy, which the government expected would contract more than 3.5% in 2009. Bit in his budget estimates Gordon Bajnai anticipates a contraction as deep as 6%, forcing bigger spending cuts as government revenue shrinks.

Bajnai said he wanted to freeze public salaries for the next two years and scrap the so-called 13th month payment for state employees and pensioners as of next year. Pensions and household energy price subsidies would also be cut this year. In fact energy subsidies would be eliminated in steps starting from 2010. Bajnai’s programme has been backed by both the MSzP (Hungarian Socialist Party) and its former coalition ally the SzDSz (Alliance of Free Democrats), and working together the two parties should be able to ensure a parliamentary majority for the new Bajnai government.

Previous spending cuts undermined Gyurcsany’s popularity with the general public. In April, according to a survey published yesterday by Progressziv Institute and Publicus Research, the MSzP had only 10% support among voting age adults, an all-time low, compared with 30% for Fidesz, the main opposition party.

There were demonstrations outside the Parliament building, calling for early elections. President László Solyom and Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán (a former prime minister) also urged early elections.

Protests as new Prime Minister sworn in

Several thousand people in Budapest protested on 14 April over the appointment of the new prime minister, Gordon Bajnai. Police said protesters threw objects and tried to break through fencing surrounding the parliament building. There were reports that several police and protesters were injured in clashes.

Gordon Bajnai replaces Ferenc Gyurcsány, who had announced his decision to resign a few weeks earlier, saying he considered himself a hindrance to further reforms. He has been sworn in as Prime Minister by Parliament, and had previously been serving as Economy Minister. He is not aligned to any political party.

204 of the 386 members of parliament voted for his endorsement, but anti-government demonstrators in Budapest immediately demanded that parliament be dissolved and an early election called.

The new Prime Minister has promised to implement tough austerity measures to tackle the country's grave economic problems. He has said he will call elections if he cannot secure parliamentary support for his policies. “To restart the economy,” he told Parliament, “we need to cut the tax burden on employment, increase the willingness to work and support work-intensive economic fields with high added-value.” The country has been badly hit by the global economic crisis, and in November 2008 needed a $25.1 billion (£17 billion) IMF-led rescue package to avoid collapse.

The opposition Fidesz party is behind the call for elections. It said the appointment of Gordon Bajnai was an "extension of the mandate of a failed prime minister".

On 7 April Fidesz rejected an invitation from Gordon Bajnai, as Prime Minister designate, to discuss plans to manage the economic crisis. Invitations were sent to all three leaders of the main opposition parties. The MDF (Democratic Forum) agreed to such talks, but the Christian Democrats did not. MDF leader Ibolya Dávid said her party was ready for talks if the future of the country were at stake.

But Fidesz party spokesman Péter Szíjjártó said in a written response that Fidesz would never hold negotiations with an “illegitimate” cabinet, nor with the Socialist and SzDSz (Free Democrat) groups. It would be going “behind the backs of ordinary people,” he wrote, adding “you have not been elected by anybody to any post”.

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Lithuania suggests visa-free regime

Lithuania's foreign minister Vygaudas Usackas has said that he was ready to warm up ties with Russia, a marked change in tone for a country which in 2008 had been the only EU state against re-starting co-operation talks with Moscow. He said Lithuania had tried to float the idea in the EU of a special visa-free regime for people in Kaliningrad.

Usackas said one sign of better relations was Russia's willingness to work more on judicial issues, including the case of a Lithuanian businessman missing in Kaliningrad. "Signals toward warming up relations have come from both sides, from Vilnius and Moscow," Usackas said, interviewed in early February.

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Former PM arrested in Bulgaria

Agim Çeku,  prime minister of Kosovo from October 2006, was detained on 23 June entering Bulgaria from Macedonia.  During the check up of his identification documents at the border an Interpol order for immediate arrest of this person had appeared on the monitor. The border policemen therefore arrested Agim Çeku and put him in custody.

Çeku was on the Interpol list after being sentenced in absence by a Serbian court to 20 years in prison. Serbian prosecutors had accused him of genocide and war crimes, claiming he should take command responsibility for the murders of 669 Serbs and 18 other non-Albanians during Kosovo's war for independence.

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Setting of local election date criticised

Local elections are to be held on 15 November, but Kosovo Albanian opposition parties are dissatisfied with the decision, claiming on 21 June that the date was not set as “a result of an agreement, but pressure from abroad”.

The decision of Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu on setting the election date was criticised by the Albanian opposition parties. Former Kosovo prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Agim Ceku, said that his party would participate in the elections, but that the President had disappointed the Albanian parties with his decision. “What worries me is that the President led co-ordinated meetings with the parties on several occasions, but he ignored the proposal of every opposition party and passed a decision that the international factor asked him to,” Ceku said.

Albanian Serbs have not been sure whether they should even participate. However, the Independent Liberal Party, which includes Serbs in Kosovo, and also has two ministers in the Kosovo government, does plan to participate in the elections regardless of Belgrade’s stance. Party official Bojan Stanojevic said “I hope that after ten years, the Serbian people will reach a consensus and understand that we must decide for ourselves.”

District chief Goran Arsic said “The stance of the state of Serbia will either be neutral, or negative, meaning, that Serbs should not participate in the elections. However, regardless of Belgrade’s stance, there are local groups of citizens and parties that will participate in the elections.”

After the elections in November, Kosovo should have 38 municipalities, ten of which will be majority Serb, one ethnic Turkish and the rest ethnic Albanian.

British army to be involved in training security forces

On 20 May a co-operation agreement between the Ministry for the Kosovan Security Force was signed with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. It covered the development of co-operation in developing security policies and security training.

UNDP reports extreme poverty and unemployment in Kosovo

It was reported on 18 May that, according to the UNDP, more than 17% of Kosovo's population lives in extreme poverty. Many more require the assistance of the government or family members who work abroad.

Unemployment and poverty are the main factors that could undermine stability in the newly independent region, said Kosovo citizens who responded to a recent UNDP survey. Out of a total population of about 2 million, almost 40,000 people have no regular income and require government assistance.

Government aid amounts to €45 to €75 euros a month - much less than what a family needs to have a normal life in the country. According to Gjergj Dedaj, the Kosovan Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Welfare, there are also some 150,000 pensioners receiving an average of €70 euros a month from the ministry, and they now fall into the category of poor people.

The reports from UNDP and other international organisations suggest that about 37% of the population lives in poverty, defined as below €1.42 euros a day, and more than 17% lives in extreme poverty – less than €0.93 a day.

"Poverty cannot be reduced through giving people social assistance alone, the opening of the new jobs would reduce poverty. Let's not transform Kosovo into a social state in which people live with social assistance; let's transform it into a place of work," Gjergj Dedaj said. An emergency strategy was not enough. He also explained that his ministry did not have its own official figures for the rate of poverty in Kosovo, since there had been no census and data collected on family economics.

Emigration played a major role in keeping families out of extreme poverty, the minister pointed out. More than half a million Kosovans work in western European countries and send money home, helping to keep their relatives financially afloat. It has been estimated that one in five Kosovans has at least one relative abroad sending them funding.

The UNDP reported that Kosovo has the highest unemployment rate in the western Balkans - around 45% of the working-age population is without a job.

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Health minister resigns over cuts

Health minister Ivars Eglitis has resigned in protest against severe budget cuts imposed as a result of the economic crisis. He said he could not accept reductions which would hurt the poorest in the country.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis's coalition came to power in March, and Eglitis is the first to resign after the government set about masking vutsd to qualify for international loans which could save the country from bankruptcy.

Eglitis said the cuts would leave many poor patients without any healthcare. "As a doctor and a healthcare specialist in charge of the public health sector, I cannot accept this," he said. But Prime Minister Dombrovskis, accepting his resignation, said that Ivars Eglitis had chosen the easy way out. In fact Latvia's health care industry needed urgent reforms, the PM claimed.

On 16 June, the Saeima (Latvia's Parliament) approved budget cuts of 500 million lats (about £607 million) needed to qualify for the next instalment of rescue loans from the European Union. A loan package of €7.5 billion (£6.4 billion) was agreed in December 2008, but Latvia must cut its budget deficit as a condition of receiving the loans. Other cuts include reducing state pensions by 10% and cutting public sector salaries by 20%.

Latvia's economy is forecast to shrink by at least 18% this year because of the global economic downturn, risking the country becoming one of the worst performers in the EU.

Recession hits the economy

Voters win the right to dissolve the Saeima

In late April President Valdis Zatlers signed the constitutional amendments that will make Latvia the only country in the EU where the electorate can directly dissolve its parliament (Saeima) by popular vote.

The Constitution's Article 14 now states that no less than one-tenth of voters can initiate a national referendum on the dissolution of parliament. If a majority of referendum participants, and no less than two-thirds of the number of voters who participated at the previous Saeima elections, votes for dissolution, the parliament will be deemed dissolved.

The Constitutional provision that the electors may not recall any individual member of the Saeima remains unchanged.

The Constitution's Article 49 has also been amended so that extraordinary Saeima elections are called no sooner than one month, and no later than two months, after the current Saeima is dissolved.

The amendments will take effect after the next Saeima elections.

Children and Family Ministry abolished

The Latvian government announced at the end of April that it was going to abolish the Ministry of Children, Family and Society Integration Affairs and redistribute its functions under the umbrella of three existing ministries. The government announced on 28 April its decision to reorganise the Ministry of Children, Family and Society Integration Affairs, dividing its functions among the Welfare Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the Education and Science Ministry.

Teachers salaries to be cut by 20%

Discussions between the Education and Science Ministry and teachers unions agreed on 20 April on teachers' salaries being reduced by 20% per shift.

Inga Stale, Director of the finance department of the Education Ministry said that they took into consideration the terms and conditions of the changes so the process would not affect the reforms to be carried out in the education sector. Among the proposed changes is the plan to turn control of the schools over to local municipalities.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the government and, should it pass, salaries would be reduced by 69 lats (about £93) per shift.

Baiba Baskere, the representative of the Latvian Education and Science Workers Union, said that despite the agreement, protests from the union would continue to take place. A strike was also being considered, she said.

The agreement was won of several radical proposals on the table. There was yet a possibility, according to finance director Inga Stale, that the government could approve even tighter budget cuts. If so, teachers salaries would not be reduced because their salaries would then not reach even the level of minimum wage.

Recession hits the economy

In a report on 9 February the Latvian statistics office estimated the country’s economy has shrunk at the fastest rate since the early 1990s, when it first became independent of the Soviet Union. The Latvian economy had been booming for several years, driven by consumer demand, but was hard hit last year as the global financial crisis developed.

Gross domestic product fell 10.5% in the last quarter of 2008 from the same period a year earlier, and economists believe that GDP could fall as much as 10% this year. Andris Vilks, chief economist at banking group SEB, said "We are dropping in the hole faster than we expected. I would say that we will see double-digit [GDP] decreases for the first and second quarter."

Manufacturing output dropped by 11.3% in the quarter compared with a year earlier, while the retail trade sector fell 15.6% and hotel and restaurant businesses went down by 24.8%.

The national labour agency reported a rise in unemployment from 7% in December to 8.3% in January.

At the end of December, the International Monetary Fund approved a €1.68 billion rescue loan for Latvia. It was part of a €7.5 billion package combining funding from the EU, the World Bank and various other sources.

The dire state of the economy led in mid January to violent demonstrations in the capital Riga, which followed an anti-government protest. After failing to storm the parliament building rioters moved to the business quarter, smashed shop windows and overturned a police van. The violence followed a peaceful rally in which some 10,000 people accused the government of economic mismanagement and demanded new elections.

People were expressing frustration at rising unemployment and tax increases. The centre-right government coalition of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis was blamed for the economic collapse.

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Police to go on unpaid leave

In an effort to save money on wages, police chiefs decided on 27 April that parts of the Lithuanian police force would be asked to take unpaid leave. In a meeting between police leaders, heads of divisions of the police department said there were only two ways of saving funds in the current difficult financial situation – a reduction in numbers or mass unpaid holidays. The daily newspaper Lietuvos Zinios reported that it was the latter option that was chosen by consensus.

Lithuanians in Ireland encouraged to vote

Lithuanian citizens in Ireland have begun a campaign encouraging fellow nationals to vote in the upcoming Lithuanian presidential election. The move has been a response to the statistic that only 2% of Lithuanians living in Ireland have ever exercised their right to vote in their homeland’s elections. The movement, called “As Esu” (I Am), began in 2008 to inform Lithuanians about the national parliamentary elections. As Esu aims to notify people about how they can vote in the 17 May polls.

President calls for foreign investment:

President Valdas Adamkus has stated that Lithuania could be among the first countries in the European Union to emerge from the current financial crisis, but added that this could only happen with strong foreign direct investment into the country.

Speaking at a meeting of the British Chamber of Commerce in mid April President Adamkus said "We seek to be among the first countries back on the track of economic growth, ready to continue our ten-year race toward EU economic standards. However, we understand that this will be possible only if we retain Lithuania's financial stability and attract more business people willing to work and invest in Lithuania … It is only through streamlined business efforts to realise its objectives and meet the changing market needs that we can expect to achieve economic recovery."

Stifling bureaucracy and corruption have been cited by business leaders and investment experts as hampering foreign investment in Lithuania. Nevertheless, the British ambassador to Lithuania Simon Butt gave his support to the country. "Lithuania has many assets as a place to do business and this is a message I emphasise when meeting with British businessmen, whether here or in the UK … The generally open business environment, developed infrastructure, good technical base, good skills and location advantages will survive the present downturn and will provide momentum as Lithuania emerges from recession."

Adamkus said that those clever enough to adapt would emerge on top after the crisis. "At present, international trade and direct investment flows have decreased among many nations. But I have no doubt that those who will be the first to find new business and investment opportunities, better use their resources and respond to altered market conditions will also be the first to benefit from economic recovery. … We are members of the EU single market. It has given us real benefits, broadened our economic horizons and opportunities. I would say that the present economic slowdown is a good opportunity to re-evaluate the advantages offered by the common market and by such countries like Lithuania."

UK demands more security knowledge

Authorities in the United Kingdom have demanded better security knowledge on convicted people coming to the UK. The request came in mid April and followed a series of brutal murders by Lithuanian migrants.

The UK authorities have been concerned about “loopholes” in immigration policies that allow criminals from European countries into Britain. A prime example was Vitas Plytnykas, who killed a woman before chopping off her head and hands and dumping them in the sea. He had a previous conviction for manslaughter in Germany. "Two young women have tragically lost their lives, killed in Scotland by men who had convictions for violence before they arrived on these shores,” a UK official said. "It is clear that the U.K. needs a joined-up strategy to deal with what is often a hidden problem, emerging after something terrible has happened. Currently there are people entering Scotland every day for whom we have no idea of their background."

Lithuanian Government website

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Macedonia fulfils conditions to ease visa regime

The European Commission has concluded that Macedonia has fulfilled all conditions for liberalisation of the visa regime. The conclusion came on 18 May as part of the report on the extent to which the Western Balkan countries were prepared to meet the criteria of the Schengen White List. Macedonia received a top mark (5) on security of personal documents and on fundamental rights, which pertains to antidiscrimination measures and policy towards the Roma. The state received a slightly lower grade (4) for policies of readmission and illegal migration and public order and security, both relevant to the fight against organised crime and corruption.

After a meeting with European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot, in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security, on 26 May in Brussels, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said he expected free visa regime for Macedonian citizens to be in force by the end of the year.

Barrot was aid to be highly appreciative the country's results in meeting the benchmarks related to justice, internal affairs, in particular the reforms of police, judicial system and fight against corruption, praising the Government's continuous efforts to soon realise the eventual goal – the opening of EU accession talks.

The final decision on visa liberalisation would be adopted through if a majority of EU member-states agree, and subject to a recommendation from the European Parliament.

Gjorge Ivanov elected as Macedonia's new president

In the presidential elections on 5 April voters chose Professor Gjorge Ivanov as their fourth president since the country declared independence in 1991. Supported by the ruling VRMO-DPMNE-led coalition, Ivanov won 437,470 votes, while the SDSM candidate and fellow professor Ljubomir Frckovski - ironically, a former co-author with Ivanov - took 252,195 votes, with nearly 97% of the ballots counted.

In his victory speech, Ivanov said his main priorities would be NATO and EU integration and resolution of the "name issue with Greece".

VMRO-DPMNE party leader and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski thanked outgoing President Branko Crvenkovski for his co-operation "despite our disagreements". The VMRO-DPMNE congratulated all voters for participating in fair, democratic and peaceful elections and emphasised they were crucial to NATO and EU integration.

The 43% voter turnout was the lowest in the country's short history of presidential elections. International monitors from the OSCE/ODIHR expressed initial satisfaction that the elections had been calm.

One noticeable characteristic of this second round in the elections was low turnout in mainly ethnic Albanian areas, with relatively few voters making a presidential choice. An official of the DUI - the ethnic-Albanian party within the ruling coalition - said his party supported Ivanov but the decision lay with the voters.

Macedonian Government website

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President wins support from Moscow

Outgoing President Vladimir Voronin, who will oversee an early parliamentary election next month, received support from Russia on 22 June with the announcement that it could lend $500 million to the country.

Voronin has been in office since 2001 and cannot run for a third term. A week earlier he had dissolved parliament and called an early election for 29 July after MPs twice failed to elect a new president. His candidate had been short of just one vote to be approved.

His Communists finished far ahead in an April parliamentary election, but the outcome had been followed by violent protests.

During a meeting in the Kremlin Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Voronin: "Of course, I would like to tell you that we supported and support the measures taken by Moldova's leadership to restore constitutional order. These are difficult times now, very difficult from the economic point of view," Medvedev said. "We should give it some thought and decide what else needs to be undertaken to develop trade and economic ties at a time of crisis."

Voronin has accused Romania, which has strong cultural and historic links with Moldova, of fomenting the violence. "I am very grateful that in these hard days of political uncertainty and attempts to destabilise our country … Russia was the first and probably the only country that advocated Moldova's lawfully elected authorities," Voronin said to Medvedev.

Russia watched with unease as pro-Western leaders were propelled to power in Ukraine and Georgia after demonstrations that Moscow said were sponsored by the West.

However the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said a week earlier that Moldova's authorities had failed to address opposition allegations of vote rigging and that it had credible reports about mistreatment of detainees after the protests.

In another gesture of Moscow's support for Voronin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin promised sizeable financial assistance. "We are considering your request to extend to Moldova a state credit of $500 million. " Putin said at a meeting with Voronin the same day. The first tranche worth $150 million could be disbursed within six to eight weeks. Putin did not give any further detail about the loan or spell out its conditions.

Supreme Court orders election recount

On 12 April the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered a recount of the parliamentary election results. The initial count of votes at the previous Sunday's election was clearly won by the Communist party, with almost 50% of votes, confirming the existing government in power.

On 13 April the Central Electoral Commission said the recount would take place on 15 April. CEC chairman Eugeniu Stirbu said the recounting would take one day. The effort would involve all the members of electoral commissions at polling stations, about 20,000 people in all. The ballots would counted in the presence of political party representatives and election observers. “We have established a recounting procedure that must be as efficient and transparent as possible,” Stirbu said.

When the result of the 5 April elections were announced, well-organised anti-government protests followed, with opposition groups claiming the electoral register had been rigged by including the names of dead people. They saw no point in a recount, saying it was not the count but the register that was fraudulent.

After two days of protests demonstrations against the election result turned violent, and protesters broke into government buildings. Two people were said to have died. The family of a student protester who died said he was beaten by the police, but his subsequent death was caused by riot control gas. The unrest was said to have prompted President Vladimir Voronin to ask the Constitutional Court for a recount.

The president of the Court, Dumitru Pulbere, said that the recount would also involve an examination of voters' lists.

Opposition groups say infringements include the insertion of the names of long-dead residents on electoral lists. They are demanding a fresh election. Observers from the OSCE international monitoring team had earlier concluded that the vote had been generally fair.

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PM hopeful for visa liberalisation

Montenegro is confident that it will be placed on the Schengen White List by early next year. However, the country must first deliver on its remaining EU benchmarks. "There is no more visible way to promote reforms and European values than visa liberalisation," Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukonović said on 22 June.

At their recent meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers had indicated that Montenegro, together with Macedonia and Serbia, was on track and could see the visa requirements lifted within months.

Prime Minister Milo Đukonović, recently elected to his sixth term, has declared the issue a government priority. "There is no more visible way to promote reforms and European values than visa liberalisation," he said after his inauguration. "We believe ... [that] we will enable Montenegro to be among the first countries in the region whose citizens will soon travel to Schengen countries without visas."

The government must still convince Brussels that it will deliver on several key issues, such as battling corruption, money laundering, and equipping all border crossings with the requisite technology. Montenegro had already met most of the EU conditions, including the issuance of biometric passports, which started in 2008.

Prime Minister meets with Serbian President

Prime Minister Milo Đukonović met on 17 June with Serbian President Boris Tadić, attending the Summit of Southeast European Heads of State in Cetinje.

The talks focused no further development of co-operation between Montenegro and Serbia, as well as overall relations in the region, notably in the context of European integration of the western Balkan countries.

European party clear winners in general elections

The Coalition for a European Montenegro won an absolute majority at the parliamentary elections on Sunday 29 March, taking 48 of the 81 seats. The Socialist National Party took 15, the New Serb Democracy took 8 and the Movement for Change received 5 seats. One mandate each was won by all four Albanian parties – Forca, the Democratic Union of Albanians, the Albanian Coalition of Perspective and the Albanian List.

Milo Đukonović, President of the Democratic Party of Socialists, which organised the ‘European Montenegro’ coalition, said after first results indicated a clear victory that by lending convincing support to the coalition citizens had opted for a life of security, economic and democratic prosperity and a European future. “This election result mirrors voters’ confidence that with the coalition ‘European Montenegro’ it will be easier to overcome the challenges of the global economic crisis.”

Đukonović announced that the winning coalition would make every effort quickly to form a new responsible and competent government, capable of effectively dealing with economic and democratic issues and successfully steering Montenegro towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

But Đukonović said that relations between Serbia and Montenegro were not satisfactory. There was scope for improving them. He was ready to work on establishing a quality relationship, provided Belgrade displayed the same willingness. Co-operation between Serbia and Montenegro had been considerably below realistic capacities, he suggested, assessing that the deterioration in relations had come over two key issues - Montenegrin independence and the recognition of Kosovo.

A key campaigning issue in the election had been whether voters wanted to see Montenegro aligned with Serbia or to give a clear mandate for joining the EU.

The opposition party Movement for Change (PZP) received only 5 seats. Its leader Nebojša Medojević did not concede with equanimity. He thanked all “honourable and fair people” who voted for his party. “It became obvious that 20 years after the wall of the Berlin Wall, you must have courage in order to vote for a political party which does not agree that Montenegro should a country in the hands of a group of highway robbers,” Medojević said. He said that PZP tried to explain that the route Montenegro was headed on was the wrong one, and that the country will collapse with bankruptcy of public finances, a loss of jobs and recession. “It is clear that the citizens did not want to heed us,” he said, “and that they let the same captain steer the boat towards the iceberg. We will not be held responsible for what will happen to Montenegro.”

Elizabeth Roberts: Realm of the Black Mountain - a history of Montenegro.  Hurst & Co. London 2007

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