Kosovo ready to accept reconciliation with Serbia in exchange for recognition of independence

Kosovo is ready to accept reconciliation with Serbia in exchange for recognition of independence, Kosovo’s Premier Ramush Haradinaj announced. “It means we are forgetting our pain, the missing and killed ones, the damages and the victims of sexual violence, the devastated and robbed economy”, Premier Haradinaj commented. Serbia’s Minister of Defense Alexander Vulin responded: “You raped and killed women and children, burnt down villages, robbed property and killed soldiers and policemen. You chased 250,000 people away from their homes, destroyed dozens of churches and monasteries and violated all promises in the Brussels Dialogue. Now you want Serbia to accept all this and accept reconciliation for a conflict it did not want and did not start!”.

Belgrade may hold referendum on Kosovo issue

The Serbian government may hold a referendum on a legally-binding agreement for normalization of Serbia’s relations with Kosovo, President Aleksandar Vucic said. “If we want to make changes to the Constitution and on our European path we will have to, we need to hold a referendum so that the Serbian citizens can express their opinion”, Serbia’s President Vucic pointed out.

Some technical issues remain unsolved during talks between Skopje and Athens on Macedonia’s new name: Zoran Zaev

Some technical issues still remain unsolved during the talks between Skopje and Athens on Macedonia’s new name, this country’s Premier Zoran Zaev said, Premier Zaev voiced expectations that an agreement will be reached and announced soon and that in the coming days the negotiating teams must be fully focused on all articles of the agreement. Zoran Zaev confirmed that when all issues are resolved he will meet Greece’s Premier Tsipras in Prespa to sign the agreement itself.

50% of Greek nationals believe that their government must work for solution of naming dispute with Macedonia

According to 50% of the Greek nationals, the Greek cabinet must work for a solution of the naming dispute with Macedonia, a survey made for Action 24 TV channel shows. 43.8% of the Greeks agree with the opinion that the current situation is favorable for reaching an agreement with Macedonia and the government should work in this direction. 4.5% replied that they rather agree than disagree and 40.7% disagreed. 7.8% of the surveyed Greeks did not answer.

Sociologists predict runoff voting at Presidential elections in Turkey

Consensus sociological agency which predicted with accuracy the results of last year’s referendum in Turkey announced its forecast about the forthcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections due on June 24. According to the survey, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party will not be able to cross the 10% threshold needed to enter the National Assembly and that none of the Presidential candidates will be able to collect enough votes at the first round. Runoff voting will be held in the beginning of July, the agency predicts. The alliance between the ruling Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party will earn 50.4% of the votes. The National Alliance would earn 39.7% of the votes.

Number of Albanians leaving their home country goes up

The Italian Institute for the Study of Multi-ethnicity announced that 1.1 million people received Italian citizenship in the past ten years, of whom 224,000 in 2017. 189,000 Albanians received Italian citizenship (16.6%). Many Albanians are trying to leave their home country in search of a better life abroad. A total of 367,231 Albanian nationals took part at the U.S Green Card Lottery.

Compiled by: Stoimen Pavlov

English version: Kostadin Atanasov