RUSSIA: New Focus on Neighbourhood

Foreign policy experts have raised concerns about Russia's relations with its neighbours after the presidential election that gave first deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev a landslide victory.

DEVELOPMENT: Taking the Rural Tour

With talk of rocketing growth in the worldwide travel industry, the mood at the 42nd International Travel Fair (ITB) has been bullishly upbeat this year, with 186 countries and regions represented in Berlin, and a record number of 11,147 exhibitors crowding the city's trade pavilions.

SPAIN: Pre-Election Climate Marked by Political Assassination

While the polls have been predicting a high turnout for Sunday’s general elections in Spain, the murder of a former socialist town councillor in the Basque Country has created tension ahead of the elections, which Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is expected to win.

KOSOVO: So Much Depends on a Split City

The divided city of Mitrovica in Kosovo has become a litmus test for those who believe in a multi-ethnic state. It is the only urban centre in Kosovo still inhabited by Serbs.

WOMEN’S DAY-ITALY: Right to Abortion Being Sought Again

Women have launched a renewed campaign in Italy against a move to overturn the right to abortion.

SERBIA: ‘Hail the Young, and Un-European’

It is not often that the torching of a foreign embassy is praised by government officials, but this is exactly what happened after hundreds of enraged young men set the U.S. and Croatian embassies in Belgrade on fire two weeks ago after a protest rally against the independence proclaimed by Kosovo.

BULGARIA: Far Right Goes Out of Fashion

The national rally of extreme-right party Ataka, taking place Mar. 3 in Sofia, illustrated the dwindling support for this group among Bulgarians.

RIGHTS-UZBEKISTAN: ‘EU Must Take Away the Cover’

Uzbek human rights activists have written a letter to President Islam Karimov challenging the unlawful detention of several of their colleagues.

GERMANY: Corruption Feeds the New Market

The revelation that hundreds of wealthy Germans have made illegal investments in Liechtenstein to avoid taxes, and the unearthing of new cases of corruption in top enterprises, raise new questions about the way the market economy is going.

RUSSIA: To the Putin-Medvedev Cocktail

First deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev overwhelmingly won Russia's presidential election with a wide margin in the first round Sunday.

RUSSIA: Putin’s Shadow Set to Rule

Russians will vote in a new presidential election Sunday that opposition leaders and human rights activists have described as a roll-call for endorsement of a Kremlin sponsored candidate and of President Vladimir Putin's political strategy to keep power in the new administration.

ALBANIA: Raising the Blue Flag

The quality of Southern Albania's pristine beaches may well receive Blue Flag recognition soon - if the government addresses growing problems with solid and wastewater treatment in the region.

KOSOVO: How a ‘Success Story’ Became Such a Mess

After the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo on Feb. 17, ethnic tensions are rising dangerously again in the region, especially in Northern Kosovo and the other Serbian enclaves scattered around the province.

BALKANS: Who Knows What Is News

In the face of continuing threats, Serbia's B92 radio and television station has taken its logo off its equipment. Its offices now get police protection.

RIGHTS-ITALY: Film Brings the Facts Home

Italy must accept its involvement in at least two proven cases of prisoner renditions, Amnesty International has demanded. The demand follows admission by the British government that a U.S. base on British soil - the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean - had twice been used by the United States as a refuelling stop for the secret transfer of two terrorism suspects in 2002.

RIGHTS-BELGIUM: Bon Voyage, Past That Barbed Wire

Barbed wire is not something most people notice when they take a plane from Brussels International Airport. Yet ominous coils of it surround one cluster of buildings within this vast complex. It is here in Centre 127 that asylum-seekers are welcomed to Belgium with a lock and a key.

ALBANIA: Addressing the Image Problem

Albania is stepping up efforts to show the world that its past of obscure communism, poverty-driven migration and a collapsing economy have been definitely put behind.

EUROPE: The Closer You Get to NATO, The Less You Like It

Croatia, Macedonia and Albania are hoping to become the newest members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in April this year. But the better chances a country has of entering NATO, the less enthusiastic its people seem to be about membership, and sending troops in dangerous missions abroad.

ALBANIA: Connecting Itself to the World

Albania's government is engaged in a massive programme to improve transport infrastructure in a move that will integrate the country into the trade and travel routes of the Balkans. But it won't be cheap, or without controversy.

ELECTIONS-SPAIN: Immigration Hot Issue in Debate

"To keep this from turning into a major problem, we have to establish order and control. We are the second country in the world in terms of the influx of foreigners; this is an avalanche," said Mariano Rajoy, leader of Spain’s rightwing Popular Party (PP).

ALBANIA: Last Outpost Beckons Foreign Capital

Albania aims to become a paradise of foreign investment in the hope its people will be allowed to share in the profits.