EU wants Albania to start exiting the crisis

EU Director General for Enlargement Christian Danielsson hailed the political leaders of Albania for showing ‘democratic maturity’ and called on for the execution of the political agreement achieved. That happened when leader of ruling socialists and PM Edi Rama agreed with leader of the oppositional Democratic Party Lulzim Basha on the overcoming of the political crisis and the postponing of the parliamentary polls from June 18 to June 25. Mr. Danielsson added that the reforms in the judicial system were key ones for the Albanian path towards EU membership.

No end to emergency situation soon, Erdogan says

The state of emergency in Turkey won’t be over soon – the EU should either keep its promise, or everyone should hit the road in its own direction. That was what Turkish President Recep Erdogan said. He reasoned his decision to proclaim an endless state of emergency with the necessity of a full elimination of the separatist and terrorist organizations, such as Kurdish PKK, the Islamic State and FETÖ of preacher Fethullah Gülen. Erdogan warned the EU that due to its hypocritical attitude towards Turkey the accession process of his country was in a standstill, but Ankara wouldn’t allow its people to be despised, marginalized and punished due to its differences. ‘Democracy is not only words, but also deeds and reforms. We shall no longer put up with the EU’s hypocrisy, humiliating our honor and dignity,’ the Turkish president declared.

George Ivanov meets Irina Bokova

Macedonian President George Ivanov met in Amman with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and discussed with her current and future bilateral activities and projects. The two expressed their readiness for the implementation of projects in the spheres of culture, education, communications and information. The World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa 2017 was held in the Jordanian capital city.

Agios Efstratios Island fights with grasshoppers’ invasion

The people of the small Greek Aegean Island of Agios Efstratios fought with the invasion of grasshoppers. A state of emergency was proclaimed on the spot. The island’s population of 200 lives on agriculture and fishery. Stela Spanu from local administration said that the sheep saw hunger as most of the greenery had been eaten by grasshoppers. Vegetable gardens have been destroyed too. Agios Efstratios is a part of Natura 2000 and its status is special due to its rare flora and fauna.

Serbia establishes council for cooperation with Russia and China

The Serbian government will establish a national council for cooperation with Russia and China and current President Tomislav Nikolic will head the new structure, as his term in presidency expires on May 31. Political scientists claim the former-to-be president has his reputation in China and Russia. Unofficial data claims that the national council will be an inter-institutional body in charge of the different areas of cooperation between Belgrade, Moscow and Beijing.

Bulgaria offers very good tourist services, Romanian media say

The Romanian printed media write that Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece are the most preferred tourist destinations by the Romanians, when it comes to sea resorts. However, the terrorist attacks and political instability in Turkey has resulted in decreased tourist interest towards the state. Bulgaria has taken advantage of the situation and increased the volume of its tourist packages by 20 – 30%, as the Romanian tourists opt for the all-inclusive system and prefer Bulgaria now, instead of Turkey. At the same time Greece doesn’t rely on that system.

Compiled by: Atanas Tsenov

English version: Zhivko Stanchev