European Union

STRPCE - Serbia's Minister Without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo Aleksandar Vulin said in Strpce on Tuesday that the planned parliamentary election in Kosovo could slow down the creation of the community of Serb municipalities (ZSO).

BELGRADE - "Changing Serbia in a Changing Europe" will be the central topic of the 21st Kopaonik Business Forum, with around 500 participants, which will be held from March 4-6, President of the Serbian Association of Economists (SES) Aleksandar Vlahovic announced on Tuesday.

"Dialogue has to be continued, results implemented"

BELGRADE -- After elections on March 16, "Serbia must continue reforms and the dialogue with Priština with renewed vigor and implement the results of the dialogue."

This is what Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has told the Belgrade-daily Danas in an interview ahead of his visit here on Wednesday.

Economic growth across Europe is expected to be slightly stronger this year as the recovery gains ground, according to the European Commission's new forecast released Tuesday.

Some 11 million homes lie empty across Europe, according to figures collated by the Guardian from across the EU.

In Spain more than 3.4 million homes are vacant, the numbers are 2 million for both France and Italy, 1.8 million in Germany and more than 700,000 in the UK.

The number of bank card frauds in Europe has started rising again in 2012.

A survey of the European Central Bank (ECB) shows that the frauds had started increasing for the first time since 2008, mostly due to the increase in online payments.

No details on foreign financial assistance to Ukraine

KIEV -- Russia should be a good neighbor to Ukraine and allow it to move forward in the direction that is has chosen, said Catherine Ashton.

BELGRADE - A delegation of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) headed by General Secretary Bernadette Segol visited Belgrade on Tuesday and conferred with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was traveling to Strasbourg on Tuesday for the launch of the European Union’s High Level Group on Own Resources.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic met on Tuesday with member of the French parliament and former president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon and thanked him for the support for Serbia's EU integration and efforts to solve the Kosovo issue.