—🇲🇰❌🇧🇬 NEW: North Macedonia’s PM Hristijan Mickoski has accused Bulgaria of seeking a “complete redefinition” and even “destruction” of the Macedonian nation and identity, after Sofia again refused to fully recognize the Macedonian language and objected to official documents drafted in it.

➡️ Mickoski’s remarks come amid a renewed diplomatic clash over an Action Plan on minority rights and broader EU-related documents, with Skopje demanding “full respect and recognition of the Macedonian language” from Bulgaria, which continues to question its distinct status.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🪖🇭🇷/🇺🇦 NEW: Croatian President Zoran Milanović said Croatia will not send soldiers to Ukraine, stressing that as commander-in-chief he wants to remove any doubt about the role of the Croatian Armed Forces in the so‑called “coalition of the willing.”

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇺🇸 NEW: Albanian PM Edi Rama has been photographed closely mingling with Donald Trump’s son‑in‑law Jared Kushner in Paris, underscoring Tirana’s political backing for the couple’s planned luxury resort project on Albania’s strategic Sazan island in the Adriatic.

➡️ The Kushner–Ivanka Trump scheme, framed by the Albanian government as a flagship “strategic investment” to drive high‑end tourism, would transform the former military outpost into an ultra‑luxury Mediterranean destination for wealthy foreign visitors.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🪖🇧🇦/🇵🇸 URGENT: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite Presidency has unanimously given in‑principle consent for members of the Armed Forces (AFBiH) to join a future International Stabilization Force peace mission in Gaza.

➡️ The defence minister was authorized to formally notify the United States of the country’s readiness once domestic legal procedures for deployment are completed.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇮🇱🇵🇸🇺🇸❗️ — URGENT: According to AP News, both Israel and the U.S. have agreed to designate Bulgarian diplomat and UN Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov as director-general for Trump's Board of Peace in Gaza.

▶️ While the announcement is not yet official, a U.S. official confirmed the appointment to AP News.

▶️ The Board, headed by Trump but led in day-to-day tasks by Mladenov, is expected to implement the second part of the ceasefire, including the disarmament of Hamas, the establishment of a Palestinian government in Gaza, and the deployment of peacekeepers, among others.

🔗 AP News

—🪖🇽🇰/🇹🇷 WATCH: Kosovo has received a second batch of Turkish-made OMTAS anti-tank missile systems, further boosting the Kosovo Security Force’s ground-based anti-armor capabilities in cooperation with Turkish defense manufacturer Roketsan.

➡️ The latest delivery, contracted under a 2023 agreement, adds to earlier OMTAS transfers and is presented by Pristina as a step toward stronger NATO-aligned deterrence against armored threats.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇦🇪🇷🇴Emirates Islamic Bank will invest $500 million to help Romania fully commission the Mintia gas-fired power plant

The 1.7GW plant will be Romania's largest and should be ready before 2027

📝:I wanted to write "will be ready before 2027" but I changed it because after all this is Romania and government deadlines are optional(unless the EU sets them)

—🛢🇷🇸/Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said Belgrade aims to buy at least another 5% of shares in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), which he said would give the state “full influence and control” over the actions of the company’s majority owner.

➡️ Serbia currently holds a 29.87% stake in NIS and could realistically exceed 34% in the coming months, he added.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇾/🇦🇱 NEW: For the first time, the Catholic University of Uruguay in Montevideo is offering an A1-level Albanian language course, delivered online by Albanian teachers in Spanish and structured as a 60-hour Saturday program aimed at basic everyday communication and cultural familiarity with Albania and the Balkans.

➡️ The course, initiated by researcher Juan Manuel Montoro after several years of work in Kosovo, targets the wider 600‑million-strong Spanish-speaking world, with registrations opening from January 19 and a minimum of ten participants required.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🪖🇷🇸 WATCH: Republic of Srpska security forces held a large parade in Banja Luka today to mark Republic Day, commemorating the founding of the entity on January 9, 1992, with the event broadcast by RTRS.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—UPDATE: The Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) has arranged delivery of its first crude oil shipments for processing at the Pančevo Refinery, according to Serbian state news agency Tanjug.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—We received a very interesting comment from a friend of the channel about what happened in Greece:

If you remember the train derailment a year or so ago, well, here's some information about that that fits into this.

During the investigation into the train derailment it came out that in the 2000s the Greek Government bought some new upgrades to the rail system that were just never implemented, "because politics." Big scandal. The derailment literally should not have happened, but politics.

The whole country is run on antiquated junk systems that should have been replaced years / decades ago, but between the economic crisis of the last 15 years and the political bullshit... So it's honestly not a surprise that some antennae or whatever went down and took the whole air control system with it.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇹🇷🇻🇪Erdogan says he's unaware of the rumours that Maduro was offered the chance to exile in Turkey