Since the start of the war, the Danube Delta has once again become a strategic trade route for Ukraine. In question, the blockade of the Black Sea by the Russian army. kyiv wants to deepen the border channel of Bystroe to pass heavy ships through it. But Romania opposes this, citing the environment and international law. Explanations.
Has Serbia become a haven for Russian diplomats suspected of spying by EU Member States? According investigation from Radio Free Europe, at least four diplomats have reportedly been reassigned to the Russian Embassy in Belgrade.
In recent months, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have been targeted by numerous false bomb threats. North Macedonia, the last country to join NATO, is also targeted. Main targets: schools. The authorities in Skopje recognize their helplessness and ask for help.
The Orthodox Church and Serbian nationalists do not want an agreement with Kosovo
On Saturday March 18, a “key meeting” under the patronage of the European Union is to take place on the Macedonian shore of Lake Ohrid between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Objective: to reach an agreement as quickly as possible between the two neighbors to settle their interminable quarrel, almost a quarter of a century after the 1999 war. It is in this context that the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church recalled during of a ceremony the importance of the “Kosovo oath” in the national myth. Serbian nationalists are also trying to block any agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. The group Narodna Patrola (People’s Patrol) multiplies the rallies, sometimes violent, to make their opposition heard by swearing that “ Kosovo is Serbia “. Long tolerated by the Vučić regime, the far-right pro-Russian and anti-migrant group seems to have become awkward.
Greece still angry
In Greece, the rumble does not weaken, more than two weeks after the worst train disaster in its history, which claimed 57 lives. Almost every day, thousands express their displeasure against the government. Thursday, March 16, the country was again blocked by a new general strike and the demonstration in Athens again ended in scuffles. The legislative elections announced for the end of spring promise to be complicated for the conservative Prime Minister, Kyriákos Mitsotákis.
Complicated elections for incumbents in Montenegro and Turkey
On the other side of the Aegean Sea, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also in bad shape. Despite the devastating earthquakes in early February and popular anger against his mismanagement, the strongman of Ankara has decided to maintain the legislative and presidential elections on 14th May next. Opposite, the opposition is trying to rally behind a unitary candidacy. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Kemalist party, was appointed by a coalition of six parties and hopes to dethrone the Islamic-conservative leaderat the head of Turkey since 2002. Portrait.
Sunday is the first round of a tense and uncertain presidential election which is played in Montenegro. Outgoing President Milo Đukanović will play for his political survival after having alternated the functions of head of state and head of government since 1991. The oldest Balkan ruler, still in power, knows that if he wins, he can get his party back on track, but if he loses, he loses everything.
A victory for nature in Albania
Good news for environmentalists in Albania: ten years of struggle to save the river Vjosa ended up paying. Europe’s “last wild river” has just been classified national park. The authorities have abandoned their destructive mini-power plant projects on its course and now intend to develop green tourism.