—🇬🇷 Flag of the Septinsular Republic (1800-1807) flying in Corfu

➡️ Corfiots are very proud of this period, as it was the first time Greeks had been granted self-government since the fall of Byzantium in 1453.

🔗 Alex Sakalis

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🦁 The flag depicts the Venetian lion of St Mark holding a bundle of seven arrows, symbolising the seven Ionian islands, and a Bible which - in contrast to the open Bible of Venice - is closed.

🔗 Alex Sakalis

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬/🇬🇷 UPDATE: Bulgaria to receive Tsar Samuel’s remains on Saturday.

➡️ Greece will hand over the medieval ruler’s remains at a ceremony in Thessaloniki on 3 October.

➡️ Bulgaria will then hold a state ceremony at Knyaz Alexander I Square in Sofia, followed by a procession to St Sophia Church.

🔗 Bulgarian News Agency · Bulgarian Government

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇭🇷❌🇷🇸 NEW: Croatia says it has a response to Serbia’s military buildup.

➡️ Defence Minister Ivan Anušić said Croatia is acquiring long-range Chunmoo rocket launchers to restore the military balance in the region.

➡️ Speaking at a defence conference in Zadar, he accused Serbia of buying offensive weapons and using hostile rhetoric.

➡️ Croatia signed a defence cooperation declaration with Albania and Kosovo in 2025.

🔗 Source

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇲🇩 NEW: Moldova proposes replacing 32 districts with three regions.

➡️ Prime Minister Vasile Tofan has presented a plan to create Northern, Central and Southern regions, while making Taraclia a separate municipality. Chișinău and Bălți would retain their status, as would Gagauzia’s 🇲🇩 autonomy.

➡️ The government aims to introduce legislation this autumn and use the new administrative map for the 2027 local elections.

🔗 Government of the Republic of Moldova

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇦❌🇧🇦 NEW: OHR warns against unilateral changes to Bosnia’s constitutional order.

➡️ In a September 14 statement, the Office of the High Representative said calls to abolish an entity, secede or unite with another state all run counter to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional framework under the Dayton Agreement.

➡️ It urged political leaders to avoid inflammatory rhetoric.

🔗 Statement of the OHR

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇭🇷❌🇷🇸 Croatia's Defense Minister Anušić:

Serbia threatens the territory of the Republic of Kosovo as well as parts of Croatia.

Croatia must establish a balance of power as it faces a neighbor that is arming itself and threatening a return to the '90s.

🔗 Admirim

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇲🇩 Before vs after

—How the Axis Carved Up the Balkans (1940–41): Greece, Yugoslavia and Crete.

🔗 Vintage Maps

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🔥 🇧🇦 It's not the first time, but it's still spectacular.

If you can't put pyrotechnics in a stadium, you can always do it from the building next door.

Bosnia is on another level.

🔗 GRADA B pro

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬 Tsar Samuel’s remains return to Bulgaria

➡️ His remains arrived in Sofia on 3 October and were placed in St Sophia Church after a state ceremony.

➡️ Greece handed them over under an agreement reached with Bulgaria following decades of negotiations.

➡️ Samuel led the Bulgarian state’s resistance to Byzantium for decades, with Ohrid becoming a centre of his rule.

🔗 Return of Tsar Samuel's Remains Is Major Diplomatic Achievement, Mayor Terziev Says

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English