Sofia - Some 3,000 Bulgarian farmers on Thursday blocked several key highways in protest against the government's agricultural policy, the national radio said.

Grain producers, joining the months-long protest of dairy farmers, are demanding subsidies which they claim the state owes them and are demanding more money than what is planned in the 2009 draft budget.

They also are demanding the resignation of Agriculture Minister Valeriy Cvetanov, saying he did not meet promises he made.

London/Frankfurt - Europe's two leading central banks are expected to announce Thursday big rate cut, as monetary authorities around the world step up efforts to head off a looming recession.

Analysts are predicting that the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) will each announce hefty reductions in borrowing costs which are likely to be followed up with more cuts in the coming months.

Washington - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's announcement Wednesday of plans to deploy missiles in its Baltic Sea enclave to counter the US basing of a missile-defence system in Eastern Europe is "disappointing," the US State Department said.

"The steps that the Russian government announced today are disappointing," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

McCormack repeated US assertions that the 10 interceptor missiles planned for deployment to Poland and the radar system to the Czech Republic does not threaten Moscow's vast strategic nuclear arsenal. The shield is designed to protect against Iran's growing ballistic missile capability, he said.

Vienna - Eastern European leaders lapped up Barack Obama's pledge of a "new dawn" of US leadership and heaped praise on the president-elect, although some questioned his toughness toward Russia.

From the Baltics to Bulgaria, the ex-communist area that provided some of President George W Bush's most loyal European allies looked for even closer ties under Obama - minus the us-against-them tension of the last eight years.

"Barack Obama now faces immense tasks, and I place hopes on his youthful energy," Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Wednesday.

Brussels - NATO expects "ever stronger cooperation" from US president-elect Barak Obama at a crucial time for the transatlantic alliance, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Wednesday.

"Today's security challenges require an ever stronger cooperation and solidarity between Allies, and I look forward to the role the United States will continue to play in this regard under president-elect Obama's leadership," the NATO chief said in a statement.

Brussels - The head of the European Union's executive body on Wednesday congratulated Barack Obama on his victory in the United States presidential election and called on him to work with the EU to shape a "new deal for a new world".

"This is a time for a renewed commitment between Europe and the US. I want to assure Senator Obama of the support of the European Commission and of my personal support in forging this renewed commitment to face together the many challenges ahead of us," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.