News stories by Claudia Ciobanu, page 8

At 37, Dimo Kokorkov, a carpenter from Stara Zagora in central Bulgaria is 'broken-hearted'. Dimo says this to describe his sense of deep injustice after being systematically abused in prison because of his disabilities.

The natural conditions in Romania and Bulgaria make these countries some of the best placed in Europe for producing wind energy. Interest in investing in wind power is high in both countries, but legislative ambiguity and the limited capacity of national electricity grids are delaying the building of new wind parks.

'Our country would have gone through the economic crisis much smoother had we invested more in agriculture over the past 20 years, and had we not wasted so many resources on consumption,' Romanian President Traian Basescu declared Aug. 7. That remark has drawn attention to serious questions whether countries like Romania are wasting their potential for agriculture.

One of three students in Romania studies at Spiru Haret University, the largest private university in the country. But more than 100,000 students, recent and older graduates, could be left without their diplomas because the authorities dispute the quality of education provided by the institution.

Membership of the EU will be the principal target of the re-elected government in Albania.

The Jun. 28 general election in Albania is being seen as a crucial test in the country's evolution towards a democratic future. The two main parties that have dominated the post-communist period both have ambitious agendas whose top priority is European integration.

Public pressure from Romanian citizens has forced one of the biggest European producers of wood products, Austrian Kronospan, to halt construction of new production lines and to improve environmental standards at its plants.

The European Economic Recovery Plan devised by the European Commission last year to help deal with the financial crisis is likely to fast-track environmentally damaging projects in the new member states.

Campaigners in Romania have very effectively used the media to break the public silence around the issue of domestic violence against women, and lobby for changes in laws.

The Romanian government is borrowing close to 20 billion euros from international financial institutions in order to stem the effects of the global financial crisis. But few in the country seem to know precisely how the money will be used and whether it will have a more positive than constricting effect.