Syria

Albania arrests alleged jihad recruiting group

Officials are trying to prevent imams and others from recruiting Muslims to fight in foreign conflicts.

Muslims arrive at a Tirana mosque whose imam, Genci Balla, and six others were arrested on charges of recruiting believers to join the Syria conflict. [AFP]

NATO terminates its practical cooperation with Russia, because of the tensions in Ukraine. 

According to NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, quoted by the Russian wire agency ITAR-TASS, currently NATO is reconsidering its cooperation with Russia. 

Cyprus routinely detains asylum seekers and refugees in prison-like conditions, sometimes breaking European Union law by holding them for more than an 18-month maximum, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The amendment initiated by the ministry of justice follows reports that a growing number of Albanian citizens have joined radical Islamist groups fighting in the Syrian civil war.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Arjan Dyrmishi, a security expert with the Albanian Institute of Democracy and Mediation told Balkan Insight.  

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias used his appearance at a meeting of Med Group diplomats in Paris on Friday to stress the geopolitical importance of Greece?s eurozone partners helping to prevent the country?s economic collapse.

BELGRADE - Ivan Mrkic, Serbia's outgoing minister of foreign affairs, attended a dinner in Brussels organized by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton for foreign ministers of EU member states and candidate countries, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday.