New migrant routes through Bulgaria and Romania

New migrant routes across Bulgaria and Romania have been appearing in the Balkans, said Austria’s Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil in an interview for the German newspaper Die Welt, adding that this was due to the fact that Hungary and Macedonia significantly enhanced measures to protect the EU's external borders. “We can see that refugees, who for instance come from Greece or Serbia, are now using the route across Slovakia to go further north. They are taking the path through Romania and Bulgaria,” Doskozil said.

David McAllister: Negotiations on Serbia's EU accession require constant movement towards better relations with Kosovo

David McAllister, European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia stated that negotiations on Serbia's EU accession require “constant movement towards better relations with Kosovo”. He added that the EU will push neither Belgrade nor Pristina toward taking the initiative, and emphasized that “a sustainable normalization of relations will never be achieved by force, but only by consent of both sides.”

Turkey transfers special units to border with Syria

Turkey is reinforcing its special forces along the border with Syria. Over the past few days more than 80 units of military hardware have been transferred in the vicinity of Reyhanli in Hatay Province. Ankara stated it was doing this by way of reinforcing the border checkpoints along the border with Syria. In August Turkey announced it was transferring heavy military equipment, including artillery launch systems to that portion of the border where there are territories under the control of the people’s protection Kurdish forces.

Bosnian intelligence wiretaps Croatian politicians

Bosnia’s minister of security Dragan Meksic has confirmed that the Intelligence and Security Agency, the OSA wiretapped certain politicians and entrepreneurs, stressing that this was done solely for the purpose of protecting the economic interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens. Earlier, Croatian daily National wrote that spies from Bosnia and Herzegovina had wiretapped and watched Croatian politicians and entrepreneurs.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic invites Donald Trump to visit Serbia

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic met with US Prsident Donald Trump in New York and invited him to visit Serbia, the media in Serbia report. According to unofficial information, Donald Trump answered that it was a “good idea”. Vucic is in New York as head of a Serbian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly session.

One ton of marijuana seized near the port of Vlorë in Albania

The Albanian police and the Italian coast guard have intercepted one ton of marijuana. The operation was launched near the Albanian port of Vlorë when border police noticed a boat out at sea sailing in the direction of Italy. The boat was sailing under an Italian flag with an Italian and an Albanian national on board. When they saw the police they started throwing packages of marijuana into the sea. The two traffickers have been arrested. Around 2.5 tons of marijuana have been seized since the beginning of the month in the region of Vlorë.

Snow in Slovenia, code red in Croatia mark end of summer

Summer in Slovenia is coming to an end with snow, a code red dangerous weather alert is in place in Croatia. As weather forecasters in Slovenia predicted, there has been heavy rain in the country, and snow in places at an altitude above 1,500 metres, such as Triglav Mountain. There has also been snow in the region of Gorski Kotar in Northern Croatia and heavy rain over most of the country’s territory.

Compiled by Miglena Ivanova

English version: Milena Daynova