—🇧🇬❌🇲🇰 NEW: A poll in Bulgaria shows only 34.2% of respondents support North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union, while 46.2% are opposed.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸/🇻🇪 WATCH: Dozens of left-wing activists rallied in Belgrade after the US operation that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, with demonstrators denouncing Washington and expressing solidarity with Caracas.

➡️ The protest was organized by the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ), a small extra-parliamentary communist group long engaged in Venezuela solidarity actions in Serbia.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇦🇱/🇺🇸/🇵🇸 NEW: Albanian PM Edi Rama has been invited by US President Donald Trump to join the Gaza “Board of Peace” as a founding member.

➡️ The new body, chaired by Trump, will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza as part of a UN-backed US plan to demilitarize and rebuild the enclave.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇮🇹/🇦🇱 NEW: Italian anti-mafia officials say the ’Ndrangheta remains one of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations in the cocaine market but is now facing growing competition from Albanian trafficking networks across the European Union.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇸🇮/🇬🇱 URGENT: Slovenia’s government has approved the deployment of two Slovenian Armed Forces officers to Greenland to join the planning and implementation of Denmark-led NATO exercise Arctic Endurance, part of a broader European show of support for Denmark and Greenland amid US annexation rhetoric.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱 WATCH: Opposition protesters gathered outside the PM's office in Tirana, where some participants threw unidentified white powder in front of the building amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸 ❌ 🇪🇺 NEW: Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik said it is “absurd and cynical” for European elites to lecture on international law and sovereignty, citing NATO’s actions in the former Yugoslavia and current efforts he claims are aimed at stripping Republika Srpska of its powers.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇭🇷❌🇺🇸 NEW: The Croatian government stated that NATO allies must respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, stressing that “Greenland is part of Denmark” in its first official response to renewed US pressure over the island.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇪🇺 🇺🇸 — The EU is preparing up to €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US goods, along with potential restrictions on American companies' access to the EU market.

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‼️🇷🇸/🇽🇰 URGENT: US officials are reportedly preparing a document under which Serbia would recognize Kosovo, to be presented in April or May, according to Western Balkans expert Dusan Janjic, with Serbian politicians said to be already alarmed by the move.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬 BREAKING: Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announces resignation amid reports he may launch a new political party ahead of snap elections.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️UPDATE: According to our source in Bulgaria, President Rumen Radev has become the first head of state in Bulgaria’s history to step down.

➡️ After nine years in office, Radev said the country’s entry into Schengen and the Eurozone had failed to ease the crisis, accusing the current democratic system of serving oligarchs who have eroded public trust in institutions.

➡️ Some politicians have already welcomed him to the political stage, though Radev did not declare any concrete political ambitions.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🛢🇭🇺/🇷🇺/🇷🇸 NEW: Hungary’s MOL and Russia’s Gazprom have agreed on the basic terms for the sale of their stake in Serbian oil company NIS, with the deal allowing the Serbian state to increase its ownership share by 5%.

➡️ The agreement, which still requires U.S. approval due to sanctions-related oversight, is expected to reshape NIS’s ownership structure while keeping Serbia’s Pancevo refinery under regional strategic control.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

⚡️🏳️🇹🇷🇨🇾 Chairwoman of TRNC's ruling party RTP, Sila Incirli , said the current administration in Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state "does not want a two-state solution on the island," adding that there were no disagreements with Turkey on this issue.

This interesting statement came following the decisive win of opposition party RTP in October elections, giving hopes to Cypriots and the international community that the unification of the island may be on the agenda again soon.

Incirli shared CTP's framework in her statement:

- From this point on, it’s impossible for it not to be two-community. People are saying, ‘How will that work? Will you live together with the Greeks?’ No, we will live in the north, and they will live in the south.

- It will be a two-community system. Who are they? The Turkish Cypriot community, the Greek Cypriot community. Each constituent state will handle its own health and education affairs. The communities will work on their own security, build its roads, etc., just like the current structure.

- There will also be a partnership administration, like a higher administration. That will provide international representation.

- There will be political equality, meaning they will govern the state together. There will be effective participation, and rotating presidency. This is what we understand by political equality. United Nations Security Council Resolution 716 also confirms this. No decision will pass without the approval of the Turkish Cypriots.

Incirli said the Greek-Cypriot side does not have any objections on the matter, as the framework was created following UNSC decisions. She added that currently Turkey and TRNC are working closely on this framework, indicating that there is no political objection from Turkey. The focus is on making the most comprehensive plan possible.

Ultimately, TRNC's ruling party is working on a plan that would create a heavily decentralized Cypriot federation, where two autonomous states are united under a smaller higher administration. It seems that Turkey is not objecting the unification of Cyprus, while TRNC meets with both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish officials for a final, lasting solution. Once again, after two decades, all parties are working together for the unification.

@wfwitness

—🇷🇸/🇨🇭 Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Davos:

This is my 12th time in Davos. I have never seen so many people. People are not applauding anyone. People are here because they are concerned about their future. Company representatives, state leaders, prime ministers, members of governments, whoever. And nobody's jubilant, nobody's laughing, nobody's smiling, because people don't know what tomorrow will bring to our countries.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇲🇩 NEW: Moldova has launched the procedure to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

➡️ The government expects the legal process to be wrapped up by mid-February, after which parliament will take the final decision, as Chisinau continues to align its foreign and economic policy with its European integration course.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English