Balkan Developments

published on 11/27/20 1:06 PM

Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conversation with head of the embassy of North Macedonia

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited the interim head of the Embassy of North Macedonia in Sofia for talks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this on its Facebook page. At the meeting, the Bulgarian side said that it appreciated the swift actions of the authorities in Skopje in the case with burning of the Bulgarian flag and the manifestations of hate speech on social media against members of the Bulgarian government. It was pointed out that Bulgaria expects a reaction to spreading of data on Facebook about people with Bulgarian citizenship living on the territory of North Macedonia and calls for violence.

Turkish military receive life sentences for attempted coup in Turkey

Military men who took part in the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016 received life sentences, BNT has reported. 337 officers and pilots from Akinci airbase, including those who attacked the parliament in Ankara on the night of the coup, will remain in prison for the rest of their lives. On the night of the coup attempt, 250 people were killed and 2,000 were injured. Turkish authorities have accused the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen and his FETO movement of standing behind the events. Gulen and more than 100 of his followers are tried in absentia.

More than 20 medics from the Greek parliament start work on front line against Covid

More than 20 Greek medics who are also MPs have started work in hospitals to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, BTA has reported. The first one was pulmonologist Giogros Lambroulis, Vice President of the parliament and member of the Greek Communist Party. On Monday, he asked to be temporarily relieved of his duties in parliament so he could work at a clinic in his hometown of Larissa. "I think my place now is among my fellow doctors and nurses," Lambroulis said and other lawmakers followed suit.

8 foreign airlines to receive subsidies to fly to Slovenia

Eight airlines will receive subsidies from the Slovenian government in order to operate flights to Slovenia, Tanjug reported. The selected companies are Turkish Airlines, Swissair, Air Serbia, Montenegro Airlines, Wizz Air, Lufthansa, Air France and LOT.

France to build metro in Belgrade

Serbian Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali and French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Promotion Franck Riester havesigned a co-operation agreement in Belgrade on two important projects - improving energy efficiency in Serbia and building a metro in Belgrade, Tanjug reported. According to Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović, the total cost of building the metro will be 6 billion euros. It will be built by France in cooperation with Chinese companies.

One year after the catastrophic earthquake in Albania

A year ago, on the morning of November 26th, Albania was shaken by the strongest earthquake in decades with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. The earthquake hit Durres and Tirana, killing dozens and injuring more than a thousand. The aftermath of the earthquake affected more than 200,000 people as many homes were destroyed. "These were the most difficult days and nights of my life. Slowly, families are returning to newly built homes. We will patiently overcome everything together," Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said. He also pointed out that in a difficult time, Albania realized it had many friends - in the first moments after the disaster, but also later, when a conference in Brussels raised over a billion euros.