—🇲🇰 NEW: North Macedonia’s PM Hristijan Mickoski told parliament he is trying to learn and study the Albanian language, saying he hopes soon to understand it without the help of a translator.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—NOTE: A subscriber wrote to us providing a wider context of this news.

➡️ We're reproducing his words below:

You should give a broader picture. He was replying to ethnic Albanian members of the parliament and they were arguing why Macedonian ministers don’t bring translators when getting interviews by Albanian journalists. He replied that there is no need for translators because official language in the country is Macedonian which the journalists must respect, and is trying to learn Albanian to understand it without the need of translator, same as English and German.

The debate came into the spotlight after an ethnic Albanian journalist, with limited command of Macedonian, addressed the Minister of Education in an overly informal way, asking whether she had brought a translator using language typically reserved for friends or relatives. The remark was widely seen as inappropriate. Following the incident, the journalist was removed from his position at the ethnic Albanian outlet.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇸/🇬🇷 WATCH: President Trump walked out at the Greek Independence Day celebration in the White House.

I'm supposed to be some place a 5 o'clock — I said, there's no way I'm missing this one!

🔗 Eric Daugherty

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇸/🇸🇦 WATCH: President Trump mocks Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Bin Salman.

He didn’t think he would be kissing my ass, he really didn’t… and now he has to be nice to me… he better be nice to me, he’s gotta be.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇷🇴🇮🇷 Romania is considering sending troops for missions in the Strait of Hormuz!

Defense Minister Radu Miruță announced that Romania is considering the possibility of sending troops to support mine clearance operations in the Strait of Hormuz area, in the context of tensions in the Middle East.

According to the official, a final decision has not yet been made, as coordination with allied states and an assessment of operational needs are necessary. Romania's participation could include staff officers, information exchange and personnel specialized in mine clearance, given the experience gained in the Black Sea in recent years.

The statement comes after Nicușor Dan announced that Romania has joined an international initiative to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, along with states such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan.

The Minister of Defense emphasized that the concrete involvement will be determined "at the right time", depending on the evolution of the situation and the decisions of international partners.

@Wallachian_Gazette

—❗️✝️ URGENT: For the first time in centuries, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the official Custodian of the Church of the Holy Sepu­lchre were blocked by Israeli authorities from entering the church to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar.

➡️ The Latin Patriarchate called it a grave precedent that ignores the sensitivities of billions of people worldwide. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called it unacceptable and instructed Italy’s ambassador in Israel to formally protest.

🔗 GeoInsider

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇮🇹❌🇮🇱 NEW: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni condemned Israeli police for preventing Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

➡️ She called the move “an offence not only to believers but to every community that recognises religious freedom.”

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—✝️ 🇻🇦 Quote from the reflection of His Beatitude the Patriarch on Palm Sunday:

Jesus keeps silent, not because he has nothing to say, but because he does not want to enter into the logic of verbal violence; his silence is a refusal to participate in the game of crushing power, it is a silence that does not feed the circle of hatred and evil, and does not want to cause harm to anyone.

🔗 Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🟨📉The most recent intention poll shows AUR dropped to 33%.

CURS, the agency that conducted the poll, usually had AUR stagnating at 35%, while giving SOS 5% and POT 2%. Now, the entire sovereigntist pole went from 43% to 40%.

It also seems that the parliamentary parties, both in coalition and opposition, only have 94% of voting intentions, leaving 6% to other parties. This makes me speculate where votes have been migrating to, for the last two months:

AUR (-): AUR's lost votes are likely going to SOS, or back to PSD, since they have been very hostile to them in the recent weeks (PSD voters are mostly elders, who are socially conservative and view AUR as the second best option after the social-democrats).

PSD (+): The only party in the coalition that gained popularity is likely getting their support back from those who drifted towards AUR.

PNL (-): The National Liberal Party's disappointed supporters probably have no other choice, and can only nullify their voice by not voting at all. It's popularity dropped in the last two months, but is overall doing better than how it started after the 2024 elections.

USR (-): The disappointed progressives are definetly migrating to SENS. This is worrying.

UDMR (±): Magyars are always going to vote the same, so it is obvious that they are always going to be at 5-6%.

SOS (-): Șoșoacă's party is fully reliant on Romanians who don't see AUR as 'enough', but are still scared that their votes might be wasted if they don't pass the electoral threshold in 2028.

POT (+): I don't know why these guys are still trying. My guess is that Gavrilă wants to negotiate a few seats for her colleagues on the AUR electoral lists, and until then are still going to campaign for a bit of support.


I think that this should be a wake-up call for George Simion and other political leaders on the right to play their cards right if they want to secure a majority in the next elections. Otherwise, we are slowly going back to the 35% sovereigntist votes we had in 2024.

@Wallachian_Gazette

#NEWS | 🇺🇦 🇹🇷 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Türkiye today to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul.

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