Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The July 11 early parliamentary elections  in Bulgaria were competitive, and fundamental freedoms were generally respected, Artur Gerasimov, Cpecial Co-ordinator and head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) short-term observation missionto Sofia, told a press conference Monday. 

The protracted conflicts in the Eastern Neighborhood and the wider Black Sea region, EU-Africa relations and the EU's strategic vision for the Indo-Pacific region were some of the subjects discussed at the informal meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers (Gymnich) held Wednesday and Thursday in Lisbon, under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council, the Foreign Ministry informs in a release.

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is attending today an informal meeting of the European Union heads of diplomacy (Gymnich format) in Lisbon, Portugal, under the Portuguese presidency of the EU Council.

Vui and Linde discussed priorities in cooperation with the OSCE, Serbia's European integration process, reforms in the field of rule of law, as well as strengthening bilateral and economic cooperation with Sweden.

"We will approach our proposal to form a government responsibly.

The 17th anniversary of ethnically-motivated violence against Serbs in Kosovo on March 17 and 18, 2004 was marked with a televised commemoration at the National Theatre in Belgrade on Wednesday.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has said it is "concerned" about the recent denial of entry to the country by journalistic crews from Serbia at the Jarinje crossing point.

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated on Friday in the presentation of the preliminary oral report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the human rights situation in Belarus and, reiterating in his remarks Romania's concern by the continuous violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the authorities in Belarus.

The breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova on Sunday staged parliamentary elections for the seventh Supreme Council (local parliament) since 1992, in which only a minority of voters cast ballots.

Deputies of the Self-Determination movement Vetvendosje and deputies of the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo did not vote today for the Draft Law on Protection of KLA War Values, Kosovo online reports.
Only 35 deputies voted in favor of the law, while one was against.