🇬🇷 The offices of OPEKEPE were raided today by a delegation from OLAF as part of European efforts to investigate the farming subsidies scandal.

The delegation consisted of two officials, who asked for data about the organisation's responsibilities, its key executives, public procurements with individuals and checking mechanisms.


📝 Kathimerini
🗺 @PoliticsGR

🇸🇰 - Two trains collided in Slovakia. At least 20 people injured.

🇸🇰 - One of the two trains, which collided in Slovakia, fell off a cliff.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, is using economic incentives to pressure Balkan countries like Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina into accelerating their EU accession processes. During her visits in October 2025, she encouraged both nations to reform quickly, offering significant financial rewards for their cooperation.

In Montenegro, she praised the country’s progress in joining the EU and urged businesses to invest now, rather than waiting for full membership, framing it as a golden opportunity. To sweeten the deal, she highlighted an investment cycle worth €3 billion and promised further European funds, including €6 billion allocated under the Western Balkans Growth Plan. This financial boost is contingent on continued legal and democratic reforms, particularly in areas like anti-corruption and transparency.

Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, von der Leyen linked EU support to internal unity and faster reform, offering financial incentives tied to pre-accession changes. She pushed for the country to submit a Reform Agenda to secure funding, as delays had already resulted in the loss of EU assistance.

In both cases, von der Leyen's strategy seems less about genuine reform and more about incentivizing political and economic compliance through the promise of money, suggesting that these nations must align with EU standards to access significant financial rewards and future membership benefits.

🇹🇷 🇮🇹 Erdogan remarked to Italian Prime Minister Meloni: "You look good, but I need to make you quit smoking."

🇦🇿 - President of Azerbaijan convinced Pakistan to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia.

That was followed by a meeting between PMs of Armenia and Pakistan - once again, personally curated by Azerbaijan's President Aliev.

🇲🇬 - Video of the Madagascar president's cinematic escape from his own country.

The journey of Aleksandr Bezrukavyi, a Russian national accused of coordinating sabotage activities in Europe, including a plot targeting US-bound cargo flights. Bezrukavyi was arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2024 under an Interpol red notice requested by Poland. He had been under investigation for his alleged involvement in a series of explosions at logistics depots in Britain, Germany, and Poland in mid-2024, which were believed to be a trial run for a larger attack on cargo flights to the US.

Bezrukavyi’s arrest came after multiple border crossings, including illegal entries from Croatia back into Bosnia. He had used forged documents, including a Spanish residence permit, and was carrying two iPhones, cash, and a Vodafone SIM card when detained. Authorities found no evidence of serious criminal activity in Bosnia, though they did investigate him for using forged documents, ultimately closing the case due to a lack of evidence.

Despite the arrest, Bosnian authorities did not actively pursue charges related to espionage or sabotage. The Russian embassy in Sarajevo, meanwhile, was involved in his case, with officials visiting him in custody, and Russia also requested his extradition for unrelated charges. However, Bosnia extradited him to Poland, where he faces charges linked to his alleged sabotage activities.

Bezrukavyi claimed his arrest was politically motivated and linked to strained relations between Russia and Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He denied involvement in any military actions, stating he was merely an unemployed cook. Bosnia's actions in this case have raised questions about international cooperation and the potential involvement of Russian-linked figures within Bosnia's political sphere.

https://balkaninsight.com/2025/10/15/two-iphones-and-a-wad-of-euros-accused-russian-saboteurs-bosnian-odyssey/

"I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,”

Trump November 2024

"We're in a trade war with China"

Trump October 2025

On October 1, 2025, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH), along with the central banks of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and potentially North Macedonia, signed a Letter of Intent in Rome to create a regional instant payment system.

This marks a significant step toward integrating the Western Balkan financial systems with the European Union.

The project, led by the Bank of Italy and backed by the European Central Bank (ECB), will use a clone of TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement)—the EU’s real-time payment platform. TIPS enables instant payments in central bank money, operating 24/7/365, and is widely used across the Eurozone for euro-denominated transactions.

The new system will allow real-time payments in local currencies across participating Western Balkan countries. It will also create a direct link to the EU's TIPS network, enabling seamless cross-border payments between the Balkans and the EU. The platform is expected to be operational within 18 months, with plans for further functionality after launch.

Russian archives released USSR era telegrams and correspondence during the 60's in regards to JFK and other over-arching political happenings of the time.

While it is a "nothing burger" in regards to the JFK assassination in regards to presenting any new evidence, it is an interesting piece of reading.

We took the original Russian Cyrillic PDF file that was released via substack and translated to English - there is always room for error in translations and so if we messed up, I really don't give a fuck.

Pro tip - download and open in .txt file

Chrome doesn't render certain characters properly and fucks up reading.

Turkey’s vast private gold holdings—estimated at $500 billion, much of it stored outside the formal financial system—are creating a major challenge for policymakers.

Soaring gold prices, now above $4,000 per ounce, have boosted household wealth by more than $100 billion in the past year. This “wealth effect” is fueling consumer spending, especially on homes and cars, and is complicating the central bank’s efforts to curb inflation, which remains above 30% despite an official year-end target of 24%.

Because so much of this wealth sits in physical gold rather than lira or bank accounts, traditional monetary policy tools—such as raising interest rates—have limited impact. The central bank can’t easily influence or monitor how people use their gold, which makes inflation harder to manage. Moreover, as Turks spend more due to their rising gold wealth, demand-side pressures increase, slowing the pace of disinflation and potentially forcing the bank to tighten policy even further, at the risk of stalling growth.

This dynamic also has broader financial and structural implications. Gold acts as a hedge against currency depreciation, but heavy reliance on it weakens demand for the lira and reflects deep public mistrust in financial institutions—a legacy of decades of high inflation and currency instability. If gold prices were to fall sharply, household wealth and spending could drop suddenly, amplifying economic volatility.

Ultimately, Turkey faces a policy dilemma: tightening monetary conditions further could hurt growth, while tolerating higher inflation could undermine the lira and economic credibility. The only long-term solution lies in rebuilding trust in the financial system and finding ways to gradually integrate private gold holdings into the formal economy—without triggering backlash or destabilizing household wealth. (Good luck)