News stories by Claudia Ciobanu, page 6

A protest to close down Busmantsi, a detention centre for undocumented migrants in Sofia, highlighted the obstacles faced by refugees and asylum- seekers in Bulgaria.

Canadian company Gabriel Resources has managed to resurrect a cyanide-based gold exploitation project which had been declared illegal in courts, and is opposed by most Romanians.

Canadian company Gabriel Resources has managed to resurrect a cyanide-based gold exploitation project which had been declared illegal in courts, and is opposed by most Romanians.

Twenty-seven-year-old Maria Puscariu is about to complete her MA in philosophy at a Belgian university. The Moldovan has been working for over five years as a domestic worker in Western Europe in order to support herself and finance her studies.

Romania’s trade unions have warned that a series of protests against drastic cuts in pensions and salaries would turn into full-fledged general strikes by month-end unless the government heeded to the needs of ordinary people.

The European Union Danube Strategy (DS), unfolding this year, is proving to be a litmus test for the viability of the concept of ‘green growth’ in Eastern Europe.

When the Slovakian government moved to open Tatra National Park to developers, last month, it did not consult experts or the public. Other protected sites across Central and Eastern Europe are said to be equally vulnerable.

Mari Cat, an economist by profession, thinks nothing of selling meat, bread and apple juice at a stall in the ‘Slow Food’ market in this central Romanian town.

The popular revolt in Kyrgystan this month should 'serve as a wakeup call to the European Union and the United States, prompting some serious rethinking of their policy priorities in Central Asia,' says a leading area expert.

The global financial crisis offered an opportunity to reform the economic system and participants in a conference on ‘degrowth’ in Barcelona, last week, appeared determined not to lose it.