🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦🇧🇬 Footage showing an unmanned maritime drone approaching the Liberian-flagged container ship CONTSHIP JET (IMO 9348625) from the starboard side, preparing to attack, has emerged.

The video was published by Bulgarian maritime outlet Maritime bg.

The vessel was struck by three maritime drones and sank overnight in the Black Sea off Bulgaria’s coast. All 18 crew members were rescued.

🔗 GeoInsider (@InsiderGeo)

🇧🇬❌🇷🇴 Bulgaria's PM blames Romania for provoking Russia into attacking commercial ships in the Black Sea

Radev stopped short of identifying Russia as the party responsible for the attacks, while implying that Bucharest’s accusations against Moscow had contributed to the escalation.

“I just want to mention the case of Romania. Romania came forward and said, ‘We have no evidence, but we know very well that Russia is responsible for these attacks and we condemn them categorically.’ What happened? Two ships, one of them just a few days ago, were hit and sunk in the most defiant way possible in Romanian territorial waters,” Radev said, according to Euronews Romania.

The Bulgarian prime minister also referred to his own position towards Moscow, claiming that he was the only head of government among Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey to have summoned the Russian ambassador to express his views, according to trud.bg, as quoted by Profit.ro.

“When I make accusations, I must have clear evidence before doing so. I cannot act on the basis of slogans,” Radev said.

The Romanian MFA handed over a protest note to the Russian ambassador in Bucharest over the many drone incursions into the country the past year. A few months ago, Romanian president, Nicușor Dan, expelled some of the Russian embassy's staff over a drone explosion that injured two people in the border city of Galați but did not even issue a protest note to Kiev when the latter detonated a unmanned surface vehicle (USV) self-detonated inside the port of Constanța while chasing an oil tanker carrying Kazakh oil because the oil tanker departed from the port of Novorossiysk the main export route for Kazakh and Central Asian oil to Romania and Europe.

Romania has long enforced a double standard for violations of its sovereignty, expelling Russian diplomats and issuing strongly worded letters to Moscow but ignoring every similar action committed by Kiev.

Politicians in Bucharest unlike those in Bulgaria still firmly believe in the "ironclad" security guarantees given to them by Western officials, a belief which has been put to the test by recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea which is directly harming Romania's trade. Russia won't forgive Romania for the support and aid it sent to Kiev.

🔗 https://www.romania-insider.com/society/bulgarias-pm-blames-romania-provoking-russia

—🇷🇸/🇧🇦 WATCH: Student List activists painted over a mural portraying Ratko Mladić with the word “Hero” in a central Subotica underpass as part of the student movement’s “Gradi pa posadi” (“Build, Then Plant”) post-election cleanup campaign.

🔗 Al Jazeera Balkans

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇮🇹 🇧🇦 — Italian Chinook crashes near Brčko, Bosnia, during EUFOR operation; three reported dead, unconfirmed.

🌐 — The Global Eye | Subscribe ✈️

—🇷🇸/🇽🇰 WATCH: Activist Miodrag Kapor and fellow campaigners painted over a “When the Army Returns to Kosovo” mural on Sremska Street in central Belgrade.

➡️ Kapor said they were continuing a campaign against nationalist messages after the election.

➡️ He criticised the positions of both the outgoing ruling party and the election-winning Student List on Kosovo. The action should not be attributed to the Student List.

🔗 Kapor’s video and statement · Local report

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇲🇩/🇷🇴 The Economist | If the prospect of EU membership is postponed or watered down, one expert explains, the credibility of a “Plan B”, in which Moldova joins Romania, increases.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🖥 🇺🇸🔽Over 60% of the S&P 500's components are now in bear market territory, down -20% or more from their record highs.

Four of the Magnificent 7 stocks are now in bear market territory, with these seven names erasing a combined -$4 trillion in market cap since their highs.

We are in a "stealth" bear market.

📎 KobeissiLetter

—UPDATE: Delije have repainted the 'When the army returns to Kosovo' mural on Zeleni Venac, in Belgrade, after it was whitewashed by an NGO unaffiliated with the Student List.

🔗 Sam Street

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🖥 🇺🇸 🔽 The Nasdaq 100 extends losses to -3.6% on the day, now on track for its biggest daily decline since June 5th.

The index has erased over -$1.3 trillion in market cap today.

📎 KobeissiLetter

—🇧🇬 Bulgaria removed from FATF grey list

➡️ The Financial Action Task Force has ended its increased monitoring of Bulgaria, citing progress on measures against money laundering and terrorist financing. The country had been on the list since October 2023.

➡️ Rumen Radev welcomed the decision as a boost to the country’s international standing.

🔗 FATF decision · Radev’s statement

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💼 Would you join a Balkan Spectator Business Club?

🌐 We’re considering creating a private Telegram group for entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals interested in doing business in the Balkans — a place to exchange experience, find partners and suppliers, ask questions and build useful connections.

📥 Membership would require a short introduction before approval: what you do, which products or services you work with, and what you’re looking for. Once admitted, you would introduce your work and interests to the group. Pseudonyms would be welcome — sharing your identity would remain optional.

📊 We’re also exploring what useful content we could provide: selected business opportunities, relevant economic developments, practical market insights and updates on changes affecting businesses across the region.

Would this interest you? What would make the group worth your time — and what kind of information would you find most useful?

Share your thoughts in the channel's DMs.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇦/🇭🇺 NEW: Former Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and his wife visited SNSD leader Milorad Dodik and his family near Banja Luka.

➡️ Dodik described the Orbáns as lifelong friends and thanked Viktor Orbán for his support for Republika Srpska during his time as prime minister.

🔗 Dodik’s statement · Local report

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇵🇱 BREAKING: Poland’s president has turned his plane around mid-flight and headed back to Warsaw as riot police surround the Constitutional Tribunal and rival judges dispute control of the court. Karol Nawrocki was travelling to Senegal when he cancelled the visit. “At such a moment, the president must be in Poland,” he said.

It comes after Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced the suspension of Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. A notice appeared on the court’s website, while its official X account rejected the move, said both men remained in office and accused those involved of committing a “coup d’état.” The account also alleged that the website itself had been unlawfully taken over.

The confrontation then moved to the gates. Footage shared by Mario Nawfal showed Święczkowski attempting to regain access after chains were cut, with police continuing to block his way. Demonstrators gathered outside, and three people were detained after attempting to enter the complex. Police said their deployment followed warnings about threats to judges and staff, and maintained that officers were securing the grounds without entering the building.

Inside, Korwin-Piotrowska confirmed that seven judges were present. The Tribunal’s spokeswoman said they had been escorted in by State Protection Service officers through a gate connecting the grounds to the prime minister’s chancellery. Outside, opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński accused the government of turning Poland into a police state, while Supreme Court chief Zbigniew Kapiński also described the developments as a coup. Nawfal subsequently reported that Nawrocki’s convoy was heading to meet Kapiński.

The dispute follows months of deadlock over parliamentary appointments that Nawrocki has refused to complete and Święczkowski has refused to recognise. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has now requested that the Tribunal leadership’s immunity be lifted. Tusk, meanwhile, is defending decisive action to restore the rule of law: “There is no other way.”

📸 Picture: Mario Nawfal

@thebalkanletter