🇭🇺🇪🇺🤝🇺🇦❗️ — Hungary has signaled it is prepared to back a proposed €90 billion EU loan package for Ukraine, but only if oil transit through the “Friendship” (Druzhba) pipeline is fully restored.

▶️Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stated that energy security remains a core national interest, linking Budapest’s support directly to stable crude supplies.

▶️The resumption of pipeline flows would help stabilize Hungary’s domestic fuel market, reduce price volatility, and ease pressure on its energy sector.

▶️In turn, approval of the EU loan would provide Kyiv with substantial financial support for reconstruction, defense, and budget stability amid ongoing conflict.

—🇭🇷/🇷🇸 NEW: Croatian PM Andrej Plenković told Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that the emerging defense cooperation between Croatia, Kosovo and Albania is not directed against Serbia, describing the partnership as technical and institutional, focused on regional stability.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇺🇸/🇧🇬/🇮🇷 US military planes spotted at Sofia airport amid Iran tensions

➡️ Several US Air Force aircraft, including air refueling tankers and cargo planes, were photographed at Sofia’s "Vasil Levski" Airport, Bulgaria’s main civilian airport.

➡️ The Bulgarian Ministry of Defence stated their presence is linked to ongoing NATO exercises, though the facility will remain closed to civilian flights on February 23–24, operating only for military use — an unusual move.

➡️ According to regional sources, Iran has warned that any country assisting potential US actions against it would be considered a legitimate target; the information remains unconfirmed.

ℹ️ Information reported by our source in Bulgaria.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇺🇸 🇬🇷 — The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the U.S. Navy's newest and largest aircraft carrier, has arrived at Souda Bay on the island of Crete, Greece, for a scheduled port visit.

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—We strongly recommend following Dunav Intel, a highly influential X account that masters Balkan OSINT like no other. He's now on Telegram, too.

➡️ We consider Dunav Intel a reliable source and consult it regularly for our posts. Don't hesitate to take a look at his channel!

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—⚛️ 🇷🇸/🇷🇺 NEW: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić held talks in Belgrade with Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev on expanding cooperation in nuclear science and innovation, including the use of nuclear technology in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and potential future energy projects.

➡️ The meeting also covered training Serbian specialists and possible involvement of Serbian companies in international nuclear initiatives, as Belgrade signals growing long-term ambitions in the peaceful use of nuclear technologies.

🔗 Dunav Intel

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇷🇸 NEW: Serbian defense companies have unveiled their first modern long-range cruise missile, named “Goshawk,” with a reported range of up to 150 km, at the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

➡️ The system is presented as an autonomous, long-range loitering and cruise-capable strike weapon for precision attacks on high-value ground targets, marking a new step in Serbia’s push into the global land-based deep-strike market.

⚠️ Image for illustrative purposes only. That's not the missile.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇭🇷 Croatia is still without Western air defence, which means that de facto it is non-existent.

—🇧🇬/🇺🇸 Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov told journalists:

American military aircraft did not fly while Vasil Levski Airport – Sofia was closed.

➡️ He spoke to the media after presenting the Analysis of the State and Readiness of the Armed Forces in 2025, and affirmed that the airport was closed because of renovations and maintenance.

ℹ️ Information reported by our source in Bulgaria.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇽🇰 NEW: Kosovo Police report that in the northern part of the country in 2025 there were 0 murders and 0 robberies, with major drops in key crime categories:

- Incitement of hatred down 71%
- Destruction or damage to property down 39%
- Assault down 31%
- Arson down 84%

➡️ Authorities also say they seized 87 firearms, 4,200 rounds of ammunition, 21 hand grenades and 11 rocket launchers over the same period.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸/🇧🇦 WATCH: Serbia's Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy has released a one-minute video claiming the widely circulated “Sarajevo Safari” narrative about foreigners paying to shoot civilians during the Bosnian war is a fabricated affair, branding it a hoax and “unmasked” in their explainer.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English