LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The world’s newest state, Montenegro, signed an accord with the European Union yesterday that put the small Adriatic republic on the first rung of the ladder to eventual membership of the 27-nation bloc. Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg after overcoming a last-minute hitch involving Bulgaria, which objected to the wording of the text. Sofia had threatened to delay the signature in its battle for the right to use the Bulgarian name “evro” for the currency in its Cyrillic alphabet, but it allowed the signing to go ahead after EU envoys pledged in a declaration to address the problem. “Montenegro is closer to Europe today,” Sturanovic told a news conference, adding that it hoped to launch an official application for EU membership in the first half of 2008.

SARAJEVO (AP) – A group of Dutch solders who served as peacekeepers in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war will arrive there Monday for a three-day visit of the massacre site, including a meeting with the widows of the victims they were supposed to protect. It will be the first time that the 12 Dutch soldiers who served in Srebrenica 12 years ago have returned. The trip is organized by the Dutch Memorial Center Kamp Westerbork, the Dutch Veteran Institute and the peace organization Pax Christi. “They gladly want to return to the places to which special and difficult memories are attached,” said a statement. The outnumbered Dutch peacekeepers did not fire a shot to protect the town even though two years earlier it had been declared by the UN Security Council a safe haven for civilians.

Bulgarian opposition lawmakers called yesterday for a vote of no confidence against the government, accusing it of failing to properly fund schools, as a nationwide teachers’ strike continued into a fourth week. The strike has closed most schools in Bulgaria, with unions citing 97 percent participation. Teachers want 100 percent salary hikes and more state funding for education. Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev’s center-left coalition government is facing a wave of demands for salary increases from different sectors of the economy, but should easily defeat the motion in the parliamentary vote due next week. Sixty-four conservative lawmakers tabled the motion – their third against this government – blaming it for “the most severe crisis in the education system, which will have irreversible consequences in society.” (AFP)

A prominent Croatian lawmaker went on trial yesterday to face charges of war crimes against Serb civilians during the country’s 1991-1995 war. Branimir Glavas pleaded not guilty to charges, including abduction, torture and the murder of 12 ethnic Serbs in the eastern town of Osijek in 1991, when he was the town’s defense chief, national radio reported. The 51-year-old, the country’s most senior political figure to have been indicted for war crimes, is being tried along with six other suspects. Glavas and two other suspects “ordered killings and inhumane treatment of civilians,” said prosecutor Jasminka Dolmanic. (AFP)