BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Commission said yesterday it has sent warning letters to Bulgaria and Romania reiterating «serious concerns» over their progress on reforms, amid questions over their 2007 EU entry date. The move comes after the EU's executive body said in a report on October 25 that the former communist states had to do more to fight corruption if they were to remain on track to join in January 2007. «As a follow-up to that report and to emphasize the importance especially of those issues in the category under serious concern, the Commission is sending warning letters to the countries,» a spokeswoman said. «There is no surprise about it. They contain all these elements that are already in the report under the serious concern issues,» added Krisztina Nagy, spokeswoman for EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn.

PRISTINA (AFP) - A peacekeeper was wounded yesterday when NATO-led troops in Kosovo (KFOR) intervened during a gunfight between ethnic Albanians in the troubled province's north, KFOR said. The local police force (KPS) later arrested seven ethnic Albanians, one of whom was also wounded during the shootout in the town of Podujevo, said a KFOR spokesman. «A KFOR patrol intervened to divide two Kosovo Albanian groups in the area of Podujevo who had a disagreement and were shooting at each other,» Peter Buch told AFP.

The international community must step back and let Bosnia begin to run its own affairs, the country's outgoing international administrator said. British diplomat Paddy Ashdown said in a speech Monday night that direct foreign intervention in Bosnia's day-to-day affairs must soon end so Bosnians can lead their country toward closer unification and eventual membership in the European Union. «We in the international community must now begin to move from the heavyweight, intrusive interventions to a new role of advisor, persuader and partner,» Ashdown said Monday at a roundtable discussion in London organized by the Bosnian Institute. (AP)

Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu has called allegations that Romania hosted CIA detention centers to interrogate al-Qaida captives «rubbish.» «This is rubbish that other people are throwing (around),» said Iliescu late on Monday. He said that Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu had already denied the existence of alleged bases, adding: «We should not let ourselves be mixed up in this provocation.» Iliescu left office in 2004 after serving a four-year term. (AP)

Germany has agreed to sell almost 300 battle tanks to Turkey, the German Defense Ministry announced yesterday. The Leopard 2 tanks currently belong to the German army. (AFP)