Republics

Russia and France insist on the declaration of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and bringing to an end the bloodshed that has gripped the eastern part of the country, the two countries' presidents say.

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By Leonidas Stergiou

The amount of capital that was transferred out of Greek banks between late 2009, when the extent of Greece’s economic troubles started emerging, and ended in June 2012 as confidence in Greece began being restored, amounted to about 115 billion euros, a recent National Bank of Greece survey showed.

BELGRADE - Leading sports experts Ranko Zeravica and Aleksandar Boricic have been presented with special awards of the Sports Association of Serbia (SSS) at a ceremony held at the House of the National Assembly of Serbia.

BELGRADE - China wants to continue friendly cooperation with Serbia in all fields, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang has said ahead of the summit of China and 16 countries of Central and Southeastern Europe, which will be held in Belgrade on December 16 and 17.

Turkish PM Davutoğlu has called for a closer cooperation with Greece during his visit to Athens as part of the third High Level Strategic Council between both countries, while playing down differences, particularly on the Cyprus issue

An unprecedented mechanism to oversee the way Bulgaria is spending funds on its army's modernization, NATO sources claim, quoted by a daily newspaper.

The alliance is now considering to make sure that Sofia will reach interoperability of the armed forces with those of other NATO members, Sega quotes the sources as saying.

BELGRADE - Albania does not have a law on national minorities and this is why Serbs and other minorities in the country are not recognised as a national minority, Aleksandar Cotric of the Serbian parliament Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region said on Friday.

BELGRADE - The future of Western Balkan countries is in the European Union and they will become members of the European family of nations in the not too distant future, said the participants of the international conference titled 'The European Union and the Western Balkans 2015-2020 - chances for partnership and mutual doubts', organised in Belgrade on Friday by the Public Policy Institute.

"Macedonian president was dead before plane crashed"

SKOPJE -- A draft report about the 2004 plane crash in which Macedonian President Boris Trajkoviski lost his life states the victims were dead before the aircraft fell.

The draft was handed to the Macedonian authorities by Omer Kulic, who chairs an international commission that investigated the crash.

Police and customs seize ton of marijuana

BELGRADE -- The Serbian police and customs service on Friday confiscated a ton of marijuana, Tanjug is reporting.

The seizure took place at the Presevo border crossing between Serbia and Macedonia.

The drug 's origin was Albania. The Interior Ministry (MUP) is expected to soon reveal more details.