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Mon, 23rd Jan -- Croatia as expected voted on January 22 in favour of joining the EU, though the poor turnout for the referendum was a clear indication of how the problems in the crisis-ridden bloc and the interminable accession process have combined to lessen the appeal of the bloc to many Croatians.

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Thu, 19th Jan -- The IMF announced January 18 that it plans to hunt down an extra $500bn of firepower. That will likely send it cap in hand to the BRICS, especially with EU members € increasingly led by Central European states - now showing greater unwillingness to fund the extra €200bn agreed as part of the Eurozone fiscal pact in December.

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Thu, 19th Jan -- The former Montenegrin economy minister Darko Uskokovic said the government was not involved in any corruption during the privatisation deal of Crnogorski Telekom. His comments come after Deutsche Telekom and Magyar Telekom agreed December 29 to pay more than $95m in civil and criminal penalties to resolve US probes over alleged bribes by former senior executives to government officials in Macedonia and Montenegro.

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Wed, 18th Jan -- If ever one needed an illustration of the growing disconnect between the Romanian people and their feckless politicians, then the waves of protests rocking the nation's cities for the sixth day running are surely it.

Justin Vela in Istanbul
Wed, 18th Jan -- On January 5, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan forecasted the economy expanded 7.5% in 2011 and will grow another 4% in 2012 Turkey did indeed power ahead in 2011 while other economies in the region stagnated and shrunk, though many see this as a last hurrah before the economy hits a wall later in the year.

Tim Gosling in Tirana
Tue, 17th Jan -- Albania was one of only two European countries not to fall into recession in 2009 and PM Sali Berisha claims the economy will withstand the second wave of the crisis thanks to the government's reform programme.

Guy Norton in Zagreb
Wed, 18th Jan -- The recently elected centre-left coalition government in Croatia has sparked controversy with its proposed measures to address the country's economic weaknesses, which could result in its economy shrinking again this year and its credit rating downgraded to junk status.

Tim Gosling in Tirana
Thu, 19th Jan -- Albania is pushing to develop its tourism potential, with everyone from the prime minister down lauding the country's merits. While the government has been heavily investing in infrastructure to help visitors get to the coast, one World Bank project hopes to attract the thousands already passing by on the large cruise ships sailing the Adriatic.

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Mon, 16th Jan -- EU officials reacted with anger over the weekend to the downgrade of nine Eurozone countries announced by S&P on Friday, January 13. While the ratings agency stuck to its guns in reiterating the market's lust for the EU to build a big bazooka to shoot down the debt crisis with cash, analysts suggest the move could raise the political obstacles to concerted action.

Guy Norton in Zagreb
Mon, 16th Jan -- Slovenia faces the unwelcome prospect of further credit rating downgrades and falling investor confidence as a result of the inability of the country's fractious politicians to agree on who should lead the country.

Plamen Monovski, CIO of Renaissance Asset Managers
Tue, 20th Dec -- We hope you enjoy this special edition of Renaissance Asset Manager's "Friday RAM" report, which peers, tongue-in-cheek, into some unexpected occurrences in 2012. It mixes the wacky with the serious, the probable with the impossible, leaving it to you, the Reader, to spot which one is which.

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Mon, 19th Dec -- What happens to Western Europe in the spring of 2012 is obviously key to the path that Russia will follow, but outside the scope of this report. All the banks have their own views, so we limit ourselves to reproducing an outline of four possible scenarios from PwC that covers the basics.