Cyprus Appeals for Russian Financial Assistance

The Cypriot government has officially requested €5 billion in financial assistance from Russia to offset losses caused by the economic crisis in nearby Greece. Cyprus chose to appeal to Russia rather than the European Union because of the lower interest rates offered by the Russian government. More here.

EU, Montenegro to Begin Membership Talks

Montenegro and the European Union (EU) are set to begin talks this week concerning the former's admission to the EU. They were scheduled after Montenegro met preliminary human rights and legal standards necessary for consideration for EU membership. More here.

Halki Seminary to Reopen

According to US President Barack Obama the Turkish government has committed to reopened the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary on Halki, used by the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church to train clergymen in Turkey until the Seminary's closure in 1971. The Seminary's reopening is a key step towards Turkish membership in the European Union. More here.

Northern Kosovars Reject Government Authority

In a recent referendum criticized by both the European Union and the Serbian government northern Kosovo's ethnic Serb majority has overwhelmingly rejected the authority of the independent Kosovar government. The Kosovar Parliament downplayed the referendum's results, which saw 99.7% of northern Kosovo's 40,000 Serbs voting against the Albanian-dominated Kosovar government in Pristina, whilst the Serbian government criticized them as harmful to Serbian interests, which under the leadership of Serbian President Boris Tadic have been focused on developing a dialogue with the Kosovar government aimed to allowing for Serbian membership in the EU. More here.

Turkey to Return Religious Properties

In a decision announced Saturday the Turkish government has committed to returning the numerous churches, synagogues, cemeteries, and formerly church-run hospital, orphanage, and school buildings confiscated from Turkey's native religious and ethnic minorities since the foundation of the modern Turkish state following World War I. Properties already sold to private owners by the Turkish government are to be substituted for financial compensation from the state. The move comes as part of Turkey's ongoing efforts to qualify for membership in the European Union, which has long been concerned by the country's treatment of its non-Turkish citizens. More here.

Serbian President Chooses Northern Kosovo Over Candidacy for EU Membership

Pro-European Union (EU) Serbian President Boris Tadic has rejected recent calls for his government to dismantle the administrative structures it has maintained in largely Serb northern Kosovo, saying that Serbia will accept delays in its acceptance as a candidate for EU membership as the price for maintaining its interests in Kosovo. More here.

Greek Foreign Minister Visits Turkey

Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis has begun a state visit to the Turkish island of Imbros, where he met with representatives of the island's Greek community, among them Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis) of Constantinople, and expressed his support for Turkey's application for membership in the European Union. Lambrinidis' visit was occasioned by the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Patriarch Bartholomew to the priesthood. More here.

At the time that Imbros was awarded to the modern Turkish state by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 its population was 95% Greek and Orthodox Christian. Although Turkey committed to guaranteeing the security of the island's population, over the decades following the treaty it settled large numbers of Turks on the island, prompting many of its native inhabitants to immigrate. The island's population today is 97% Turkish.

Syriac Catholic Exarch Criticizes Suryoyo Abroad

The exarch responsible for Turkey's tiny Syriac Catholic minority, Metropolitan Yusuf (Sag), has criticized recent calls by Suryoyo living in the European Union for the Turkish government to ease the legal restrictions impeding the return of Suryoyo to their homelands in southeastern Turkey, saying in part that, "Those who left are telling lies, and we can't approve of everything they say." More here.

Cypriot President Appoints New Government

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias has appointed a new government as the country struggles to recover from the economic impact of losing the power plant supplying most of its electricity. The new government's finance minister, economist Kikis Kazamias, has stated that Cyprus should not need a bailout from the European Union as Greece has. More here.

Suryoyo Appeal for Right of Return to Turkey

A Syriac Orthodox organization, the European Syriac Union, has appealed to the European Commission to pressure the Turkish government to remove obstacles preventing the return of Suryoyo living abroad to their homelands in southeastern Turkey and to introduce constitutional protections securing the legal status and ethnic identity of the Suryoyo still living in Turkey.

Roughly 250,000 Suryoyo live in Western and Central Europe, whereas only 15,000 remain in Turkey, of those the majority living in diaspora within the country in Constantinople. More here.

Church Properties Exempted From Privatization Drive in Greece

Following a joint meeting between the lesser Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, it has been announced that the properties of the Church of Greece will be exempted from the privatization drive being initiated by the Greek government at the demand of its foreign creditors. The meeting also decided that the salaries of Greece's clergy will continue to be paid by the state. More here.

Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau Interviewed on Moldovan Orthodoxy, Relations with the EU

In an interview Metropolitan Vladimir (Cantarean) of the Moldovan Orthodox Church has accused the European Union of trying to use loans to the Moldovan government as a means of enacting laws in Moldova "alien to [Moldovan] spiritual and moral traditions." During the interview Metropolitan Vladimir also expressed his opposition to the official registration of Moldova's Muslim League and his hope for the Synaxis of All the Saints of Moldova to be included in the general calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church. More (in Russian) here.

Metropolitan Hilarion Meets with Representatives of Church and State in Hungary

During a visit to Budapest for an interreligious conference Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk of the Russian Orthodox Church met with the primate of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary and the Hungarian prime minister to discuss the possibilities for cooperation between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in Hungary and the European Union in the defense of 'family values.' More (in Russian) here.

100,000 Protest Greek Government's Handling of Economic Crisis

Some 100,000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens and other major cities to protest the ongoing economic crisis in Greece and the Greek government's failure to deal with it in a way that protects the interests of the country's citizens. The protests received the support of Archbishop Anthimos of Thessalonica, the most prominent diocese of the Constantinopolitan Orthodox Church in Greek-occupied southern Macedonia. More here.

Romanian Orthodox Local Synod for Western, Southern Europe Meets in Brussels

The Local Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe has met in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the internal life of the Metropolitanate, the possibility of obtaining funds from the European Union, and the expansion of monasticism in the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of Spain and Portugal. Following their meeting the hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Western and Southern Europe traveled to eastern Belgium to bless the founding of a new monastery in Namur on the site of a former Byzantine Catholic monastery. More (in Romanian) here.

Serb Referendum Canceled in Bosnia-Herzegovina

A referendum in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Serb Republic over the legitimacy of the country's federal courts, which have been accused of being biased against the country's Serb residents, has been canceled under pressure from the European Union. More here.

Serbian Opposition Calls for Early Elections

Approval for the current pro-European Union (EU) Serbian government is dropping as Serbia's main opposition party calls for early elections. Despite 20% unemployment and significant corruption and crime issues the government refuses to hold early elections before the EU approves Serbia as a candidate for membership, which is expected to take place this October. More here.

Macedonia Edges Closer to EU Membership

Macedonia has inched closer to joining the European Union, though certain issues (corruption amongst them) and Greece's inability to deal with the fact that there is more to Macedonia than the southern districts it has occupied since the Balkan Wars still stand in the way to full membership. More here.

Moldovan Government Withdraws Anti-Discrimination Bill

The Moldovan government has withdrawn an anti-discrimination bill from parliamentary consideration that would have protected the country's minorities and brought it closer to association with the European Union. More here.

EU Firm on Moldovan Anti-Discrimination Law

The head of the European Union-Moldova Interparliamentary Commission has stated that Moldova's preparations for association with the EU must include the passage of a proposed anti-discrimination law protecting the country's ethnic and sexual minorities or the preparations will not be able to proceed. More here.