First round of local elections held in Kosovo

The Central Election Commission of Kosovo announced that around 750,000 people, or 43.71 percent of all voters cast their votes during the first round of the local elections in the country on Sunday. A total of 35 parties, 1 coalition, 30 civic initiatives and 25 independent candidates ran in the local elections. According to initial unofficial results, the greatest number of votes went to the Democratic League of Kosovo, followed by the Democratic Party and the Self-Determination movement which won the parliamentary elections earlier this year. In all likelihood, there will be a run-off in seven of the biggest municipalities in the country. The second round is to take place on 19 November. 

Prosecutor’s office in Albania seeks arrest of former cabinet minister over drug trafficking

The prosecutor’s office in Tirana is demanding the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of former Interior Minister from the Edi Rama cabinet Saimir Tahiri over involvement in drug trafficking. The demand comes one day after the Italian police sent official papers and over 400 pages of transcripts of recorded conversation indicating the involvement of close associates of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and of Saimir Tahiri in drug trafficking. The media in Tirana describe this as the latest in a string of major scandals involving the Edi Rama cabinet.

Turkey creates kamikaze drone

Turkey has started the mass production of “kamikaze drones”, a source in the country’s defence industry secretariat says. The drones have three modifications – two of them are “kamikaze”, the third will be used for reconnaissance. The drones are expected to be used in anti-terrorist operations. The first Turkish drone Bayraktar TB2 has been playing an important role in anti-terror operations since September 2016

Tsipras expects Macedonia to take concrete steps towards membership of NATO

At a meeting in Athens with US Vice President Mike Pence, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stated that Macedonia must take concrete steps in order to move forward and join NATO, Greek media report. Mike Pence reiterated the US’ categorical support for Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and the significance of the settling of the name row. There were no surprises during the Tsipras-Pence talks with regard to Macedonia and no pressure was applied, the cabinet of the Greek PM says.

Bulgarian company buys Macedonian metallurgical giant

The Bulgarian company Enekod is buying the Macedonian FENI Industries - a pyro-metallurgical ferronickel producing plant, the Maxfax news agency reports. The Bulgarian company vows to restore production without delay and to cover all obligations of the company, whose property and bank accounts have been blocked. The plant started operating in 1982 and is one of Macedonia’s leading companies in terms of investment, export and employment.

Serbian media coalition wants state TV to broadcast in Bulgarian

The Coalition of Journalists’ and Media Associations adopted a declaration in Belgrade demanding that Serb state TV RTC broadcast programmes in the language of the minorities, as stipulated by the electronic media act. The document reads that public service media in Serbia should be required to include programmes in Albanian, Bosnian, Wallachian and Bulgarian. The Coalition of Journalists’ and Media Associations comprises the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia, the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina, the Association of Independent Electronic Media, the Serbian Online Media Association and the Local Press Association.

Compiled by Stoimen Pavlov

English version: Milena Daynova