Macedonia starts talks with NATO

Macedonia's accession talks with NATO start on October18 and 19 at the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels, Skopje's government spokesman Mile Boshnakovski said. He added Macedonia was fully prepared for these talks and pointed out national coordinator, Stevo Pendarovski, will be the head of the official government delegation including representatives of most of the major ministries and institutions. According to the spokesperson, in order for Macedonia to become a full member of the Alliance, the complete implementation of the Prespa Agreement was required. First the Macedonian Parliament should adopt constitutional changes before the agreement’s ratification by the Greek Parliament.

Hashim Thaci hopes to reach agreement with Serbia before next spring

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci hopes that an agreement with Serbia will be reached before next spring and the deal would include changing borders and exchanging territories. The change of borders is not an idea I want to present, but after the conflicts and negotiations I can conclude that this is the only reasonable solution for both parties, Thaci points out to French TV station France 24 and adds that such an agreement would bring stability. He also added that rights of Serbs in Kosovo would be respected in the event of a change of borders and Kosovo would remain multiethnic. Thaci has called on all EU countries to stand united behind the agreement between Pristina and Belgrade. So far, Germany has openly opposed any attempt to exchange territories and changing the borders between the two countries.

Turkey with new anti-inflation program

Turkish Minister of Finance Berat Albayrak declared a comprehensive fight against inflation. He presented a new package of measures aimed to boost investor confidence. The package does not envisage a rise in electricity and gas prices until the end of the year. The Turkish Minister pointed out that the government would provide support to business to prevent layoffs and announced that companies that are part of the anti-inflationary program would apply a minimum of 10 percent discount by the end of this year. In the past five years, annual inflation in Turkey was the lowest in April 2013 - 6.14%, and the highest in September, 2018 - 24.52%.

Cypriot President and Turkish Cypriot leader to meet in second half of October

Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis will meet Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in the second half of October in order to exchange views and opinions, Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros reports. Head of the President’s press office, Viktoras Papadopoulos, said the meeting would be devoted to an exchange of views and a conversation on how Anastasiadis and Akinci see the next steps on the Cypriot issue. Papadopoulos pointed out that the meeting was not about resuming the talks but about an open discussion. The meeting between the two leaders would be carried out through UN mediation.

Romania plans to double pensions by 2022

The Romanian government plans to double pensions in the country by 2022. The approved scheme envisages 30 billion US dollar a year for pension funding, which according to economists may have a heavy impact on public finances. The average pension in the country is 240 euros per month and pensioners are about 5.2 million people. Following the promise of its campaign, the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) will have to dedicate 11% of the gross domestic product to pensions, compared to 6.7% at the moment. Analysts warn that it is now quite difficult for the country to keep public deficit below 3%, which is required by the EU. Romania achieved record growth of 6.9%for 2017 and the government expects a 5.5% growth in 2018 and 5.7% for 2019.

Turkey released US pastor Andrew Brunson

Turkey has released US pastor Andrew Brunson, who was arrested and trialed in Turkey on charges of terrorism and espionage, which sparked a diplomatic crisis between Ankara and Washington. Brunson was released after the court sentenced him to three years, one month and fifteen days in prison on charges of terrorism, but ruled that he would no longer be in jail because of the time he already spent behind bars. The pastor was arrested in December 2016.

Compiled by: Manuel Savov

English: Alexander Markov