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Mon, 13th May -- The Polish parliament on May 10 abolished a requirement that the state hold a majority stake in struggling flag carrier LOT Polish Airlines. The move is a first step towards finding a strategic investor, although it's likely to be a tricky hunt.

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Mon, 13th May -- Hungary announced a spending freeze on May 10 as it made a last minute stab at persuading Brussels to allow it to exit the EU's excessive deficit procedure. However, it's just that sort of short-term reactionary policy that international lenders have urged Budapest to cease.

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Mon, 13th May -- Following the parliamentary elections on May 12, Bulgaria's position has changed little - same parties, same faces, same problems.

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Fri, 10th May -- Slovenia unveiled a reform programme on May 9 that aims to raise sales taxes and sell state enterprises - including a bank, an airline and the country's main telecommunications company - as it scrambles to avoid becoming the next Eurozone country to require an international bailout.

Sandy Gill in Sofia
Fri, 10th May -- If Bulgarians stay away from the elections to be held May 12, it won't be because they see the results as a foregone conclusion. With mouthy and macho Borisov - PM till he stepped down in March - facing a challenge from righteously indignant socialist Stanishev, the pollsters agree the margin between their parties has shrunken markedly in the last month.

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Fri, 10th May -- Unsurprisingly, CEE states are viewed as the most corrupt in the EU in a recent poll by Ernst & Young. Slovenia ranked the most corrupt country in Europe, followed by Croatia - which will formally join the bloc in July. Slovakia came in third, level with Greece - the epicentre of the Eurozone debt crisis.

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Fri, 10th May -- Following comments the previous day from Hungarian government officials that offered the banks some hope they won't be hit up again for more money to help reduce households' foreign currency loans, the head of the central bank soured the mood on May 9 by ruling out Magyar Nemzeti Bank using its foreign reserves to help out.

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Fri, 10th May -- Following the lead of Bratislava, which has objected vociferously over bailouts handed to Athens, Slovak bank Postova Banka announced on May 9 it has launched an arbitration case against Greece over the haircut bondholders were forced to accept last year.

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Fri, 10th May -- The CEO of Turkish Airlines on May 9 dismissed the latest hullabaloo at the flag carrier, insisting that the company has not banned its flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish.

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Thu, 9th May -- Ahead of the parliamentary debate on the Slovenian government's draft reform programme due on May 9, Banka Slovenije Governor Marko Kranjec reiterated calls for Ljubljana to widen its focus from raising revenue to include privatisation and trimming public sector spending.

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Thu, 9th May -- In a reminder that the road ahead for Serbia and Kosovo remains rocky, the pair failed on May 8 to find an agreement on implementation of their deal to normalize relations, less than three weeks after the two sides were hailed for the breakthrough.

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Thu, 9th May -- The Turkish government intends to instigate a cap on the cost of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on May 8. The planned market intervention appears part of the drive to offer stimulus to wider economic growth, while trying to keep a lid on consumer credit growth.