Croatian centre-left candidate and strong backer of EU accession Ivo Josipovic has won a third of votes cast in the country's presidential election on Sunday (27 December), putting him in pole position ahead of a January run-off.

Mr Josipovic, the opposition Social Democrat leader, won 32.4 percent - the most votes out of the 12 candidates up for the post.

He topped the poll substantially ahead of his nearest rival, Milan Bandic, the mayor of Zagreb since 2000 and a former Social Democrat turned populist, on 14.8 percent, but still fell far short of the necessary 50 percent required to win without a second vote.

Businesses should find it easier from today to offer services in other member states because of the entry into force of EU legislation prohibiting the imposition of "discriminatory" requirements on businesses from other EU countries.

Examples of requirements that are banned under the legislation - known as the services directive - include economic needs tests and residency requirements.

The legislation also removes barriers to cross-border shopping and cross-border business-to-business sales, and obliges member states to create a website where foreign businesses can find and fill out all the administrative forms necessary to set up a branch or subsidiary in that country.

Russia has warned the European Union of oil supply cuts because of a dispute between Moscow and Kiev, the Slovak government said on Monday, hours after Russia played down worries about a new row with Ukraine over gas.

"There is an increased risk that there could be a halt in oil supplies from January 1. 2010. Three countries of the European Union - Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - would be hit most," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

A European Union source said oil stocks in those countries were adequate to withstand possible cuts.