The Dispatch

Bulgarian authorities arrest 18 for smuggling migrants across its southern border

A criminal network smuggling mainly Syrian migrants from Türkiye to Western Europe has been taken down following a coordinated action led by the Bulgarian authorities and supported by Europol. On…

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Serbia’s Vucic says he wants to join EU

Serbia remains committed to its plan to join the European Union and wants to speed up its membership bid, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday after his recent trip to…

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Rama to secure historic 4th term in Albania

Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama secured a comfortable majority in Albania’s election, riding a wave of pro-EU sentiment to become the country’s longest-serving democratic leader. “It is the most humbling…

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Kurdish PKK disbands and ends 40-year Turkey insurgency

Outlawed Kurdish group the PKK, which has waged a 40-year insurgency against Turkey, has announced it is laying down its arms and disbanding. The move followed a call in February…

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The Albanian general election at a glance

A total of 26 political parties, including eight standalone and three coalitions, are competing for 140 seats in parliament under the proportional representation system. This will be Albania's tenth parliamentary…

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Albania’s Rama seeks fourth term in election dominated by graft, EU membership

Ilir Rranci moved to a hamlet outside the Albanian city of Elbasan for the view of snow-capped peaks and a garden big enough for fruit trees, chickens and turkeys. Today,…

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UPDATED: Turkey hit by 6.2 earthquake

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkey's AFAD disaster agency said, one of the strongest quakes to strike the city of 16 million in…

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Politically inexperienced medical professor appointed as Serbia’s prime minister

Serbia's parliament on Wednesday approved politically inexperienced medical professor Djuro Macut as Prime Minister of the Balkan country, following months of anti-corruption protests that led his predecessor to resign. The…

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Mystery sound at Serbia protest sparks sonic weapon allegations

Tamara Bojanovski was in a crowd of anti-government protesters in Belgrade on March 15 when she heard a sound "like some powerful machine hurtling up from behind". Thousands of others…

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Bosnian Serb leader flees to Moscow as authorities step up pursuit

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik surfaced in Moscow, confirming his whereabouts in a video message as authorities in Sarajevo demand an international arrest warrant following his conviction for defying the…

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NATO Mediterranean drill begins

A NATO exercise in the Mediterranean began Monday ahead of Türkiye taking command of the alliance's amphibious task force starting in July. NATO launched Exercise Dynamic Mariner / Flotex 25…

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Istanbul rocked by protests as Turkey jails mayor before trial

A Turkish court on Sunday jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, pending trial on corruption charges, in a move likely to inflame the country's biggest…

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Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, arrested as government crackdown escalates

Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations…

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Additional EUFOR peacekeeper troops arrive in Bosnia amid rising tensions

The EU announced plans to send peacekeepers to Bosnia after the nation's top court suspended laws adopted by its ethnic-Serb majority regional entity. Reserve peacekeepers arrived in Bosnia on Wednesday…

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PKK leader Ocalan orders militants to end war with Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdish group PKK, has called on his movement to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. His statement, read out in a…

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Kosovo’s PM Kurti’s party won most seats in elections, lacking majority, needing coalition for government

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party won most seats in the weekend parliamentary election but was left without a majority in the house, forcing it to look for an…

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Kosovo’s election tests Prime Minister Kurti’s party, amid economic challenges and tense Serbia relations

Kosovo goes to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti after his governing party won in a landslide four…

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Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigns after months of protests

Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned on Tuesday following months of protests over a deadly awning collapse in November that killed 15 people. Vučević's resignation came just a day after…

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Albania to create a Vatican-style, Bektashi state in Tirana

Albania will create a sovereign Muslim state in Tirana for the Bektashi religious order, along the lines of the Vatican in Rome, to preserve and promote religious tolerance, Prime Minister…

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Croatians Stage Nationwide Boycott to Protest Rising Prices

A nationwide boycott of shops, retail chains, and gas stations is taking place across Croatia today in response to the continuous rise in prices. The initiative, launched by the Facebook…

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Bulgaria’s parliament approves new government to end months of coalition talks

Bulgaria's parliament approved on Thursday a cabinet led by Rosen Zhelyazkov, a former parliament speaker, ending months of negotiations on the formation of a coalition government. The centre-right GERB party…

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Croatia’s Milanovic wins presidential vote

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic won a second term in the largely ceremonial post, a preliminary result based on vote count in 98.65% of the polling stations showed. Milanovic of the…

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UPDATED: Suspect in Montenegro shooting dies after attempting suicide

A man shot dead 12 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro before dying from self-inflicted wounds early on Thursday, authorities said, in one of the Balkan…

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‘Croatia’s Trump’ wins first round of presidential election

Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanović, a critic of NATO and the EU whose populism has earned comparisons to Donald Trump, won the first round of the country’s presidential ballot on…

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Belgrade rocked once more by anti-government protests

Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Belgrade on Sunday to protest against President Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), whom they blame for a railway…

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Albania bans TikTok for a year after killing of teenager

Albania on Saturday announced a one-year ban on TikTok, the popular short video app, following the killing of a teenager last month that raised fears over the influence of social…

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Heroin kingpin arrested after 703 kilos of heroin found in soap shipment

An international law enforcement operation supported by Europol has led to the arrest of a suspected heroin trafficker running a criminal network stretching from Iran to Western Europe. The investigation…

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Violent Albanian criminal group linked to corruption disrupted with the support of Europol

On 25 November, Albanian authorities, with the support of Europol, took enforcement actions against 21 individuals, including a former judge, a lawyer a police officer, and two investigative journalists as…

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Croatia to hold presidential election on Dec. 29

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that a presidential election would be held on Dec. 29 and that the government would call the vote officially on Thursday. Incumbent President Zoran…

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Erdogan ally floats Turkey constitutional amendment to let him extend his tenure

The main political ally of longstanding Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment should be considered to allow the president to run again in elections set…

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Abdullah Ocalan: Who is jailed militant who shaped PKK insurgency against Turkey?

Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, jailed 25 years ago, is again a focus of attention in Turkey after President Tayyip Erdogan's nationalist ally raised the possibility of his release in…

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Turkey looks to end Kurdish PKK conflict as regional instability grows

Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics have prompted the first bid in a decade to end Turkey's 40-year conflict with Kurdish militants, but its chances of success are unclear…

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UPDATED: Bulgaria’s GERB party wins parliamentary vote, preliminary results show

Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party won a parliamentary election on Sunday with 26.08% of the votes, according to preliminary results from the state election commission based on a partial vote count.…

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UPDATED: Turkey strikes Kurdish militants after deadly attack on defence firm

Turkey launched airstrikes on Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, hours after a deadly attack on a defence firm near Ankara killed five people, an assault the…

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Erdogan ally makes offer to jailed PKK leader Ocalan to end conflict

President Tayyip Erdogan's nationalist ally said on Tuesday the Kurdish militant PKK's jailed leader could be allowed to speak in Turkey's parliament, if he announces an end to the group's…

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Albanian ex-president Meta held on corruption charges

Former Albanian President Ilir Meta has been detained by police over corruption allegations, his lawyer said, calling the arrest politically motivated. Meta, 55, who was president from 2017-2022 and now…

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Gulen, the powerful cleric accused of orchestrating a Turkish coup, dies

The U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who built a powerful Islamic movement in Turkey and beyond but spent his later years mired in accusations of orchestrating an attempted coup against Turkish…

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Eastern Turkey rattled by magnitude 5.9 earthquake, felt also in Syria

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck eastern Turkey's Malatya province on Wednesday, the country's disaster and emergency management authority (AFAD) said, adding that there were no immediate reports…

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MEPs express concern on deteroriation of Turkish democractic credentials

MEPs have expressed their deep concern about the ongoing deterioration of democratic standards in Türkiye, and the targeting of independent journalists, activists and opposition members. MEPs deplored a complex web…

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09

Oct

Turkey blocks instant messaging platform Discord

Turkey has blocked access to instant messaging platform Discord following a court decision, the country's infotech regulator said on Wednesday. Turkey's Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) published the access…

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Violent Protests in Tirana as Police Clash with Protesters Over Corruption

Albanian police fired tear gas to disperse opposition protesters who hurled petrol bombs at government buildings and smashed city property in what they said was part of a civil disobedience…

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Turkey says Israel expanding Gaza war to Lebanon

Turkey said Israel is seeking to expand its war on Gaza to Lebanon with the “alarming” wave of deadly explosions that swept through Hezbollah strongholds. “The escalation in the region…

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Prosecutors indict Albania’s ex PM on corruption charges

Albania's main opposition leader Sali Berisha said he had been officially indicted on Wednesday on corruption charges for actions he took when he was prime minister, describing the indictment as…

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Turkey arrests alleged Mossad financial operative

Turkey arrested a Kosovan national accused of managing the financial network of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in the country, the Turkish intelligence organisation said on Tuesday. Liridon Rexhepi was detained…

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Bulgaria elections postponed

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev refused to appoint a caretaker government on Monday, prolonging the country’s political stalemate amid a rift over the nomination of Kalin Stoyanov to continue serving as…

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Turkey fully committed to NATO – Defence Minister

Turkey remains fully committed to its NATO responsibilities, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters, addressing concerns that Ankara might be shifting away from the West. Last month, President Tayyip Erdogan…

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Montenegro’s Adriatic gem of Kotor struggles with tourist influx

A UNESCO World Heritage Site nestled on the edge of a picturesque Adriatic bay, the town of Kotor in Montenegro is struggling to cope with a surge in tourism that…

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Bulgaria heads to seventh parliamentary election in just three years

Bulgaria faces its seventh parliamentary election in just three years after the last of three political parties tapped by President Rumen Radev to form a coalition government returned the mandate…

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02

Aug