Slavic

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic met with Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexey Meshkov in Belgrade Tuesday and told him that Serbia supported in principle the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but it would not participate in any sanctions against Russia.

The European Parliament has given the green light to an Association Agreement with Ukraine setting up a free trade area after 2016.

While the agreement was being debated in Strasbourg, lawmakers in Ukraine also held discussions on the document, with both institutions having planned to pass it simultaneously.

Despite being on trial for threatening Serbian peace campaigners with violence, Belgrade’s former anti-terrorist police spokesman has gone to fight alongside pro-Russian forces in Ukraine.

BELGRADE - Serbia should reduce its budget deficit from EUR 2.5 billion to EUR 1 billion by 2017, Serbian Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic said and announced that the 2014 budget review with key savings measures would be presented on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sept. 16 formally submitted to parliament a bill offering limited self-rule for the country's separatist east.

BELGRADE - Serbian citizens are more inclined to believe that their engagement can lead to changes in society and they demonstrate their readiness to engage, show the results of a survey titled Participation of citizens in democratic processes in Serbia.

There are more than 200 Bulgarian schools abroad and their number, as well as the number of their students is increasing, chair of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad Dr. Boyan Kulov told Darik.

However, according to the experts, only between 5 and 10 percent of school-age Bulgarian children living abroad go to a Bulgarian school.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has proposed on Monday a special three-year self-rule status for the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and the free use of the Russian language there.

Poroshenko told top lawmakers the proposal would be part of a broader deal with the pro-independence rebels.

Ex-soldier Dragan Samardzija, accused of participating in attacks on Bosniak villages near Kljuc that left hundreds dead, did not appear for a plea hearing because he was having treatment in Belgrade.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic stated that every day wasted stalling the procurement of fuel entails a higher risk of energy instability, higher import costs and fresh room for speculators and energy usurers.