Southeastern Europe

The increase in power prices will increase the cost of living in Bulgaria after a series of gradual decreases in 2013.

In the winter months of 2014, a family with two children will need around BGN 2280, according to forecasts of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Research at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), as cited by the BGNES news agency.

Guri Shkodra, a spokesperson for the energy supply company, KEDS, said Kosovo is facing an energy crisis this winter as a result of June's incident in the Kosovo A power plant.

Montenegro plans to deploy troops in the EU mission in the Central African Republic, a country torn by ethnic violence between Muslims and Christians.
 
By year-end, Montenegro will send several staff officers to the command of the EU operation, known as EUCAR, in the capital, Bangui, BIRN has learned.

The assembly of Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina approved a government reshuffle on Monday, with a majority of 63 out of the 120 deputies.

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Greeks seek stability ahead of presidential election

BELGRADE - Solving the issues of excess workforce and land ownership should be the government's priorities in bringing the privatisation process to a conclusion, said the participants of Monday's presentation of Privatisation in Serbia, a study conducted by the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) with support from the USAID.

The Serbian government and IMF representatives will begin a series of meetings in Belgrade on Tuesday to discuss further spending cuts aimed at securing a deal on a new loan from the international financial body.

BELGRADE - The state in Serbia's agriculture sector is not satisfactory but the Ministry has come up with a plan for recovery, Serbian Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Bogosavljevic-Boskovic said on Monday.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and French Ambassador to Serbia Christine Moro discussed on Monday ways of improving the military cooperation between the two countries.

Gasic and Moro agreed that defence relations were good and provided an incentive for other EU countries to view Serbia as a reliable partner.

Kosovo office chief visits returnees

KLINA -- Marko Đurić says he "expects officials of ethnic Albanian political parties in Kosovo to provide support and protection to Serbs in Metohija."

The director of the Serbian Gvernment Office for Kosovo made the comments on Monday as he was visiting the village of Vidanje in the Klina municipality.