Special UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has presented his proposal for limited statehood for Kosovo. Among the many parties with an interest in Kosovo's future status is neighboring Albania, which shares ethnic and linguistic ties with Kosovo's 90 percent majority Albanian population.

Political leaders and security experts from some 40 nations open the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy today, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and many other policymakers are expected to speak.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has told Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko that she supports Ukraine's aspirations for closer integration with Europe.

The Dutch chairman of the European Union's Interparliamentary Delegation to Turkmenistan says the country's presidential poll on February 11 is not a "real" election.

European Union officials are in Kyiv today for talks on Ukraine's aspirations to join the bloc.

Peter Semneby, the EU's special representative to the South Caucasus, has spent much of the time since his appointment a year ago focusing on frozen conflicts. RFE/RL Georgian Service correspondent Nino Gelashvili spoke to Semneby about the EU's role in the region during a recent visit to Tbilisi.

Hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens have sent letters of application for Romanian citizenship, raising concerns that a flood of Moldovan workers will use Romanian passports to enter the workforce of the European Union.

European Union lawmakers today called for countries around the world to place an immediate moratorium on the death penalty.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab says she believes the meeting of trade ministers in the Swiss Alpine village of Davos last week has given momentum to the restarting of the stalled Doha Round of Trade Negotiations. About 30 trade ministers met on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said today the eviction of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee from its offices in Minsk was an "act of harassment."

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta is in Berlin today for meetings with senior EU officials, who are expected to renew the bloc's aid pledges to Afghanistan.

During the German presidency of the EU Council, the centre of the EU quarter in Brussels, the Rond-Point Schuman, will be turned into a "work of art." The Goethe-Institut and the Foreign Ministry have decided to bring "More Light!" to Brussels by selecting the proposal by Anny and Sibel Öztürk.