Serbian society views EU as "machine for pressure"

The Serbian society views the European Union as a "machine for pressure" on Belgrade to recognize Kosovo, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said during a meeting with representatives of an EU working group on enlargement, the EU Council and the European Commission. "It is not always easy to convince people of the advantages of Europe, since our society usually sees the EU as a machine that exerts bigger pressure on us to recognise Kosovo," Vucic said. At the same time the Prime Minister expressed confidence that Serbia will remain firmly on its European path.

Decline in the Turkish tourism, but Russians coming back

The number of foreign tourists in Turkey continues to decline and in January they were 9.8 percent less in comparison to the same month last year. Decline has been marked each month since the end of 2015 and this is also because of terrorist attacks by the "Islamic State," the renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels and the coup last summer. In 2016, the number of tourists to Turkey decreased by 25% in comparison to the previous year, while revenues from tourism dropped sharply. At this backdrop the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey has started to rise again and Russia is currently fifth in the Turkish chart of tourists but the number has not yet reached the average levels of previous years.

Minimum social pension in Romania rises

The minimum guaranteed social pension in Romania rises by 30% reaching 520 lei (about 115 euros). According to the Ministry of Labour some 1,022,168 people will benefit from this measure. The minimum social pension was introduced by the government of Emil Boc in 2009 to provide compensation to those who were employed on the black market, or do not have the required work experience.

Serbian police arrest 53 people for corruption

In a large-scale operation by Serbian police part of the fight against economic crime and corruption 53 state employees were arrested for corruption activities. Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that according to initial estimates since 2005 these people caused damage worth over EUR 10 million to the Serbian budget, the budget of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, local self-governments and other economic subjects. Stefanovic pointed out that among the arrested there were inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture, employees of the Lasta transportation company, members of the managing board of the Zemun Veterinary Institute, as well as 13 police employees in charge of vehicle registration.

11 brought to trial in Greece over deal with Apache helicopters

A Greek prosecutor has called for the trial of 11 people over a deal for the delivery of 12 Apache attack helicopters from Boeing for the needs of the Greek army. The deal totalled 594 million dollars and an investigation showed that it was in violation of the law and caused damage to the state. Defendants are senior representatives of the Ministry of Defence.

Albania has list of people financing terrorism

The head of the Albanian service combatting money laundering Agim Ismaili said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee for security, that there was is a list of persons and entities in Albania who finance terrorism. Ismaili did not mention names, but repeated several times that the prosecution has launched an investigation on various companies in the country, providing financing for sending fighters who fought on the side of terrorist groups in Syria. According to security forces there were more than 150 Albanian citizens on the battlefields in Syria and Iraq. So far the death of over 20 Albanian volunteers has been confirmed. Ismaili said that there were 154 cases of money laundering, 1,300 notifications of suspicious transactions, while 28 million euros of these transactions were blocked.

Former Kosovo imam accused of terror charges

The Special Prosecutor's Office in Pristina has accused the former imam of the largest mosque in Pristina Shefqet Krasniqi of inciting terrorism. The imam of the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Mosque in Pristina is accused that in his sermons and lectures at the Faculty of Islamic Theology, called on the audience to participate in the war in Iraq and Syria and spread religious hatred. Krasniqi is also accused of tax evasion. During the catastrophic floods in Serbia in the spring of 2014 he used to say that the disaster was sent to the Serbs by God for punishment.

Compiled by: Atanas Tsenov

English: Alexander Markov