The Dispatch

Bulgaria’s GERB party leads ahead of Oct. 2 election

SOFIA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party widened its lead over its main rival, the reformist We Continue the Change (PP) a month ahead of the country's fourth…

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Montenegro blames criminal gang for cyber attacks on government

PODGORICA (Reuters) - Montenegro blamed a criminal group called Cuba ransomware for cyber attacks that have hit its government digital infrastructure since last week, described by officials as unprecedented. Public…

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UPDATED: EU urges Kosovo to give ‘sufficient time’ for car licensing rule

BRUSSELS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Thursday that Pristina should give sufficient time for the implementation of a rule under which ethnic Serbs living in northern…

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Turkey hikes electricity, gas prices by 50% for industry, 20% for homes

ISTANBUL, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities hiked electricity and natural gas prices for households by around 20% and by around 50% for industry on Thursday, putting further upward pressure…

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EU says Serbia, Kosovo settle dispute over identity documents

BRUSSELS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Serbia and Kosovo have settled an ethnic dispute over the movement of citizens across their border, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday. "We…

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Number plate row fuels ethnic tensions in Kosovo as Serbia seeks more talks

BELGRADE, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Mediated talks over the status of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have failed to ease tensions - fuelled by a dispute over car number plates -…

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Photo Story: Aftermath of storm that hit North Macedonia

Boys stands in the area affected by a landslide that hit the mountain village of Gjermo, west of Tetovo, Republic of North Macedonia. A big storm hit western part of…

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Bulgaria says talks to resume Russian gas supplies are ‘inevitable’

Bulgaria's interim energy minister said it was "inevitable" that the Balkan country would discuss resuming gas deliveries with Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM that were halted in April, after the government promised to secure…

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Serbia warns NATO over safety of Kosovo Serbs

Ethnic Serbs working in Kosovo will leave their jobs unless a deal is reached to end their "persecution," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned on Sunday. In a fiery TV address after meeting Kosovo Serbs, Vucic called…

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Albania investigates military factory intruders from Russia and Ukraine

TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania said it was investigating why two Russians and a Ukrainian had tried to enter a military factory and police detained four Czech nationals also close to…

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Albania arrests two Russians, one Ukrainian trying to enter military plant

TIRANA (Reuters) - The Albanian Defense Ministry said that two of its soldiers were injured while trying to stop two Russians and one Ukrainian who tried to enter a military…

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Sixteen people killed in Turkey as bus crashes at accident site

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Sixteen people were killed in southeast Turkey on Saturday when a bus crashed into emergency workers and journalists who were attending an earlier accident on a highway…

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Montenegro’s parliament passes no-confidence motion on cabinet

PODGORICA (Reuters) - Montenegro's parliament passed a no-confidence motion on the cabinet of Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic on Saturday, proposed by 36 deputies to protest the signing of a long-disputed…

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NATO peacekeepers increase presence in northern Kosovo

Peacekeepers in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) have increased their presence in northern Kosovo to be able to react to security challenges, a NATO spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday (August 18). KFOR peacekeepers were seen…

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Israel says to restore full diplomatic relations with Turkey

JERUSALEM, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Israel and Turkey have decided to restore full diplomatic ties and will return ambassadors to each other's country following a steady improvement in relations, Israeli…

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German troops back to Bosnia as fear of instability grows

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has deployed troops with the European Union's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia for the first time in a decade as concerns mount instability from the Ukraine war…

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Kosovo starts power cuts as a result of energy crisis

PRISTINA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Kosovo’s energy distribution company, KEDS, said it would start power cuts at 8 a.m. on Monday because of a lack of domestic production and high…

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Eleven dead in mass shooting in Montenegro

CETINJE, Montenegro (Reuters) - Eleven people, including two children and a gunman, were killed in a mass shooting in Montenegro on Friday, and six others were injured, a state prosecutor…

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Photo story: Full Moon over Istanbul

A full moon sets behind the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey, early Friday morning. Via EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

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Kosovo PM warns of possible new conflict with Serbia

PRISTINA, (Reuters) - Kosovo is prepared to stand against a possible attack by Serbia as worsening strife with minority Serbs could result in a new armed conflict, Prime Minister Albin…

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Erdogan plays up diplomatic gains with eye on elections

A series of diplomatic wins, capped by the deal to resume Ukraine's grain exports, provides some respite for President Tayyip Erdogan from Turkey's economic strife and offers a blueprint of…

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Kosovo detains Russian journalist at the border

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo’s interior minister said it has arrested a Russian journalist at the border on suspicion that she could be a spy, and security authorities were searching “for…

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UPDATE – Twelve Poles killed, 31 injured in Croatia bus crash on their way to Medjuorgje

VARAZDIN, Croatia (Reuters) - Twelve people were killed and 31 injured, 18 of them seriously, when a Polish bus filled with religious pilgrims slipped off a road and crashed near…

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Serbia, Kosovo leaders to discuss tensions at Brussels Aug. 18 meeting

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo will meet in Brussels on Aug. 18 to discuss a flare-up of tensions between the neighbouring western Balkan nations, the European Union's executive…

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FACTBOX -Putin and Erdogan contacts underline complex Russia-Turkey ties

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan meet on Friday for the second time in just over two weeks, after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine's Black Sea…

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Montenegro signs long-disputed contract with Serbian Orthodox church

PODGORICA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Montenegro's government signed a contract regulating its ties with the powerful Serbian Orthodox Church on Wednesday, saying it would help heal deep divisions between pro-European…

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UPDATED: Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says first grain ship ‘nothing’, economy in coma

KYIV/ISTANBUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy dismissed the importance of the first grain export shipment from his country since Russia invaded, saying it was carrying a fraction of the…

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Turkey’s annual inflation hits fresh 24-year high of 79.6%

ISTANBUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Turkish inflation rose to a fresh 24-year high of 79.6% in July, data showed on Wednesday as the lira's continued weakness and global energy and commodity costs pushed…

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Bulgarian President calls snap election

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev set Oct. 2 as the date for the country's fourth parliamentary election in less than two years on Monday, after the collapse in June of reformist…

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Kosovo starts issuing extra documents to Serbian citizens as protesters block roads

ZUPCE, Kosovo (Reuters) - Kosovo's government on Monday began issuing extra documents to Serbian citizens crossing into its territory, as Serbs living in the north of the country who oppose…

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Spain’s PM backs EU candidacy for Bosnia

AP - Spain's prime minister on Saturday expressed support for Bosnia to become a candidate for European Union membership amid fears that uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine could…

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Turkey’s tourism revenues nearly triple, but many Turks stay home

ISTANBUL, July 29 (Reuters) - Turkey's tourism revenues nearly tripled in the second quarter while first-half foreign visitor numbers surged close to 2019 levels, data showed on Friday, recovering from a coronavirus-driven…

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Bulgaria faces fresh polls after Socialists drop bid to form government

SOFIA, July 27 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's Socialist party abandoned plans on Wednesday to propose a new coalition government after failing to scrape together a majority in parliament, a development that…

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Albania’s ex-PM says UK has barred him from entering

TIRANA (Reuters) - Albania’s former president and prime minister, Sali Berisha, said on Friday he had been banned by London from entering the UK for supposedly having links with criminal…

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Turkey’s Erdogan says almost all Nordic countries are “nests of terror”

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that almost all Nordic countries had become "nests of terror", and repeated a threat to block Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids if…

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Photo Story: Police action against protesters on seventh anniversary of Suruc explosion

Turkish police detain protesters during the seventh anniversary of the 2015 Suruc bombing in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday. At least 32 people were killed and some 100 wounded in a…

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Albania, North Macedonia finally start EU membership talks

Albania and North Macedonia began membership talks with the European Union on Tuesday, overcoming a series of obstacles thrown up by EU governments despite an original promise to begin negotiations in mid-2018.…

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N. Macedonia votes to end dispute with Bulgaria, clears way for EU talks

SKOPJE (Reuters) -Lawmakers in North Macedonia on Saturday passed a French-brokered deal aimed at settling a dispute with Bulgaria and clearing the way to long-due European Union membership talks. With…

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Bulgaria election likely after centre-right party refuses to form government

SOFIA, July 14 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party refused on Thursday to form a new government, bringing the Balkan country closer to snap polls in the autumn. Bulgaria is…

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UPDATED: Russia in deadly strike on Ukrainian city a day after grain talks breakthrough

KYIV, July 14 (Reuters) - Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia far behind the frontlines on Thursday in an attack which Ukrainian officials said had left at least…

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Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, U.N. set to meet on grain exports

ISTANBUL, July 13 (Reuters) - Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish military delegations are set to meet U.N. officials in Istanbul on Wednesday for talks on a possible deal to resume safe exports of…

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‘Amazing journey’: EU accepts Croatia as 20th euro zone member

European Union finance ministers on Tuesday formally approved Croatia becoming the 20th member of the euro common currency at the start of 2023, a move hailed as the culmination of…

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Photo Story: The victims of the Srebrenica genocide remembered

A Bosnian Muslim woman visits gravestones during a funeral ceremony for fifty newly-identified Bosnian Muslim victims, at the Potocari Memorial Center and Cemetery in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 July…

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Photo Story: Protests in Skopje

A woman waves the old Macedonian flag during a protest against the French proposal to resolve the dispute between North Macedonia and Bulgaria in front of the Parliament building in…

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Turkey tightens rules on pilots leaving to work for foreign airlines

ISTANBUL, July 8 (Reuters) - The Turkish civil aviation authority is tightening conditions covering Turkish pilots who resign and move abroad to work for foreign airlines as the aviation industry races to…

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Israel, Turkey to expand mutual flights in their first aviation deal since 1951

JERUSALEM, July 7 (Reuters) - Israel and Turkey will expand bilateral airline traffic under a new aviation deal to be signed on Thursday, their first since 1951, Israel's Transportation Ministry said. "The…

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Croatia’s finance minister resigns

SARAJEVO, July 6 (Reuters) - Croatia's Finance Minister Zdravko Maric resigned late on Tuesday and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic will propose economy professor Marko Primorac as the new candidate for the job,…

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NATO in talks to build naval base in Albania

Albania is in talks with NATO to build a naval base at Porto Romano, a port under construction on its Adriatic coast, Prime Minister Edi Rama revealed. Rama told a…

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Photo Story: Lavender harvest in Bulgaria

A farmer harvests lavender flowers in a field near the town of Shabla, Bulgaria. Bulgaria, currently the largest producer of lavender oil in the world have overtaken France, which had…

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Russian envoy to Bulgaria to ask Moscow to shut embassy after mass expulsions

Russia's ambassador to Bulgaria said she would ask Moscow to close its embassy in the Balkan country after her appeal for Sofia to reverse what she called an unprecedented hostile…

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Armenia, Turkey agree to partially open border closed for decades

The governments of Turkey and Armenia have agreed to allow nationals from other countries — but not yet their own — to cross the border between the two nations, the…

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Erdogan raises possibly nixing NATO-Nordics deal if promises not kept

ANKARA, July 1 (Reuters) - An accord signed with Finland and Sweden to lift Turkey's veto on their NATO membership bids is not the end of the matter and obliges…

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Bulgaria destroys naval mine off its Black Sea coast

SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's military late on Thursday carried out a controlled explosion of a Soviet-era naval mine that had drifted close to the country's Black Sea coast, the defence…

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UPDATED: Bulgaria’s outgoing PM rejects Russian ultimatum, unveils potential successor

SOFIA, July 1 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov rejected a Russian ultimatum to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff by noon on Friday and named the country's finance…

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Bulgaria closer to early election

Bulgaria's Socialists, allies in the outgoing coalition government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, said they would not back a new Petkov-led Cabinet, angry with the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomats.…

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Turkish police prevent Istanbul Pride from going ahead

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police blocked hundreds of people from gathering for Istanbul's annual Pride parade on Sunday and detained dozens after local authorities banned the march from going ahead…

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Turkey re-evaluates the reintroducing the death penalty

Turkey will reconsider a 2004 decision to abolish capital punishment, the justice minister said, after President Tayyip Erdogan raised the death penalty in connection with the cause of this week's…

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