Political geography

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic believes that Serbia will not lose a dispute with Croatia that started before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague Monday, adding that Serbia does not want to disrupt relations with its neighbor Croatia.

Montenegro company is the centre of EU concern

Russian investors and Montenegro officials are heading to arbitration over an aluminium plant.

Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica has been bankrupt since 2013. [Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica]

NOVI PAZAR - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic opened on Thursday a textile fair in Novi Pazar, with 36 exhibitors from Turkey and Serbia.

Kosovo, Albania sign employment deal

The bilateral agreement establishes a common labour market between the two countries.

Erion Veliaj, Albania minister of youth and social welfare (left) and Nenad Rasic, Kosovo minister of labour and social welfare, sign a memorandum of co-operation in Tirana. [Albania Ministry of Youth and Social Welfare]

BELGRADE - First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that Serbia's goal is to achieve the Austrian model of state governance, but noted that for that to happen, the country has to work hard for years and decades and change many things.

BELGRADE - The Coalition of Refugee Associations stated that the meeting between Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic leads to further enhancement of the two countries relations, but it also warned that mutual respect would not be possible without first finding a fair solution to open issues.

EU nudges western Balkans toward economic reform

Improving the financial climate will attract investment, the Union said. In other business news: Bulgaria and Macedonia seek more funding for Corridor 8.

The EU believes that financial reforms will mean a better business climate and greater economic prosperity in the western Balkans. [AFP]

European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn

By Eleni Varvitsioti

The winter forecasts of the European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that the Greek economy is emerging from the shadows of recession with expected growth this year reaching the target of 0.6 percent.

Troika officials are due to meet Bank of Greece Governor Giorgos Provopoulos on Wednesday amid a growing split between Athens and its lenders over how much money will be needed to cover the capital needs of local banks.

Unemployment rates among Bulgaria's university graduates in the last five years have dropped to about 4 percent.

The encouraging statistics, however, are overshadowed by the fact that most of these employees do not occupy positions that require higher education.