SERBIA: Pro-Europeans Win, Short of Majority

The pro-European bloc of parties claimed victory in the crucial Sunday parliamentary elections in Serbia. They now promise a brighter future for the nation of 7.5 million traumatised by the isolation, the poverty and the NATO bombing through the 1990s, followed by a slow and painful economic recovery, and recently the loss of the southern province Kosovo.

Q&A: Russian Children Learn Market Ways

After the political changes that brought in capitalism, education in Russia emerged from its old centralised style. The changes in education now have been no less radical than the political changes.

TURKEY: Ruling Party Challenges Closure

Facing closure by the Constitutional Court, Turkey's Islamic-rooted governing party has launched its formal defence, claiming that the case against the highly popular party and its leaders has no legal basis, and that it defends secularism despite charges that it plans to turn the country into an Islamic state.

EUROPE: Still without a ‘Coherent’ Human Rights Policy

More than 50 years after its inception, the European Union continues to lack a "coherent and hard-hitting policy to uphold and promote human rights around the world", a new report by the EU's only directly-elected body has complained.

RIGHTS: CIA Flights Haunt Romania

Romania has still not convincingly answered repeated calls from the European Commission and others to clarify allegations that it hosted CIA detention centres and that rendition flights passed through its territory.

BOSNIA: A Tentative Rebellion Unrolls

It started with a murder.

KOSOVO: No Freedom from Corruption

The new government in Kosovo has failed so far to live up to its promise of fighting corruption.

SERBIA: Agreement with EU Deepens Rift

Serbia achieved a long proclaimed foreign policy goal earlier this week when it signed a pre-membership pact with the European Union in Luxembourg.

BOSNIA: Workers Make a Start for Rights

"Parliamentarians, shame on you!" read a sign in Bosnian carried by four union workers in downtown Sarajevo.

LABOUR-SERBIA: Now May Day Means Mobbing

From the days of celebrating workers on May Day, the day now brings reminder of a new practice of mobbing among Serbia's workers.

RUSSIA: Non-Presidential Putin Prepares for New Power

In his last days as President, Vladimir Putin has prepared to bring federal representatives under control of the cabinet in an effort to influence policy after he takes over as Prime Minister.

BULGARIA: Two Iraqis Did Make It

Bulgaria, sometimes considered a safe haven for Iraqi asylum seekers, has denied refugee status to all but two applicants from Iraq since December last year. Bulgaria's move contributes to blocking land access to Europe for Iraqis fleeing violence.

RUSSIA: Where Migration Means Trafficking

New efforts have been launched to curb human trafficking across Russia and the ex-Soviet republics.

HUNGARY: Left Turn by Right Brings Upheaval

Hungary's governing coalition has announced it is splitting up, leaving the socialists in a minority government, and so prolonging the biggest crisis of the left since state socialism collapsed in 1989.

EUROPE: U.S. Seeks the Peaceful Way for Military Base

NATO countries have given cautious support to U.S. plans to extend its missile defence system to Eastern Europe, just as Washington is working hard to fulfil Russia's conditions to agree to its construction.

EASTERN EUROPE: Where Did All the Workers Go?

Worried about the possibility of a slow-down in economic growth because of labour shortages, Eastern European countries have started taking measures to bring their workers back home, and attract foreign labour. But such government interventions can only have a marginal effect.

BALKANS: Can’t Beat NATO, Join It

One way or another, NATO still figures in everyday political life in Serbia. And that will make sure that reforms to the Serbian military continue.

TURKEY: ‘Secular Fundamentalism’ Fights ‘Moderate Islam’

Turkey is locked in a do-or-die duel between its secular "fundamentalism" and "moderate" Islam. The outcome is likely to bring profound changes at home, and may affect its controversial bid for European Union membership.

RUSSIA: In a Polite Battle With NATO

The recent NATO summit in Bucharest has shown that both western and eastern European members states have irreconcilable views on how to approach Russia: what the west sees as cooperation, the east calls capitulation.

Q&A: ‘Europe Must Lead On Human Rights’

When Stojan Miodrac's corpse was identified by his wife in 1991, his ears had been cut off and his eyes gouged out. He met his horrific end after being asked to produce his identity card when he went to a social security office in Croatia. His only transgression was that he bore an ethnic Serb name.

BULGARIA: Criminal Networks Extend Into Government

Bulgarian minister of interior Roumen Petkov announced his resignation Sunday, in the midst of a row about connections between high-level Bulgarian officials - especially from the Ministry of Interior - and corrupt businessmen linked to organised crime.