—🇷🇸/🇦🇱/🇪🇺 NEW: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said he and Albania’s PM support a “multi-speed Europe,” adding that Serbia would be “very happy” to join the EU politically and economically even without voting rights, veto powers, or its own commissioner.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇮🇷/🇧🇬 UPDATE: Bulgaria has received assurances from Iran that it faces no danger and is not considered a target, caretaker FM Nadezhda Neynsky said in an interview for bTV’s “Face to Face” on Monday, stressing that Sofia is not a party to the conflict and sees no direct threat to Bulgarian territory.

➡️ She added that Bulgaria relies on NATO air and missile defence in case of escalation, while domestic air and anti-drone systems remain on alert.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇭🇷❌🇭🇺 NEW: A US federal judge in Washington DC enforced a $236 million arbitral award against Croatia on March 6 in a dispute with Hungarian energy firm MOL over its stake in Croatian oil company INA.

➡️ The ruling stems from Croatia's failure to honor 2009 gas business obligations, including market liberalization and taking over loss-making operations.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇸/🇹🇷 NEW: A NATO-assigned US Patriot air and missile defense system has been deployed to Malatya in eastern Türkiye, where it is being readied for operational use to reinforce protection of Turkish airspace amid heightened regional tensions linked to the Iran war.

➡️ The system is positioned near the Kurecik NATO radar base, which recently helped track Iranian ballistic missiles heading toward Turkish territory.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇴 Romania’s Neptun Deep to reshape EU gas landscape

➡️ Romania’s Neptun Deep offshore project in the Black Sea is estimated to hold around 100 billion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas, with first gas expected in 2027 and plateau output of about 8 bcm per year, enough to turn Romania into the EU’s largest gas producer and a net exporter for the first time.

➡️ Developed by OMV Petrom and Romgaz with a total investment of up to EUR 4 billion, the field lies some 160 km offshore and will supply low‑emission gas via ten production wells, three subsea systems, an unmanned platform and a new pipeline to Tuzla.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—✈️ 🇭🇷 NEW: The Croatian government repatriated 870 of its citizens free of charge from crisis-hit areas in the Middle East, covering the full expense of €856,000.

➡️ Operations also brought back 101 foreign nationals from countries including Germany, Serbia, France, and Slovenia.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸❌🇽🇰 NEW: Serbia's oldest cultural-scientific body, Matica Srpska, called on authorities to raise the issue internationally to keep the University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica—serving 7,000 students and 1,000 staff—within Serbia's education system.

➡️ The group warns Kosovo's Law on Foreigners, set for March 15 enforcement, risks "unpredictable consequences" like a Serb exodus, violating UNSC Resolution 1244.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇷🇴🤝🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 URGENT: Romania has approved a US request for temporary access to the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, Europe’s largest NATO installation, to support operations in the Middle East, including aerial refueling, fighter jet deployments and the stationing of up to 500 additional personnel.

➡️ Bucharest stresses the deployment is defensive and tied to monitoring and support missions rather than basing offensive strike assets on Romanian soil.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇮🇷/🇷🇴/🇧🇬/🇬🇷 NEW: Iran’s Khorramshahr and Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, with ranges of up to around 2,000 km, can reach southeastern Europe, putting Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece within potential striking distance.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇭🇷/🇪🇺 NEW: Croatian President Zoran Milanović said Europe is “a pack of house cats, each going its own way — not wolves,” attacking the EU’s security posture and cohesion.

➡️ He added that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz “just smiled” as US President Donald Trump criticized Spain, underscoring divisions inside Europe over defense and transatlantic ties.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬/🇱🇧 NEW: Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement strongly advising against all travel to Lebanon and urging Bulgarian citizens currently in the country to leave immediately due to the deteriorating security situation in the wider Middle East region.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇪📞🇷🇺/🇷🇸 NEW: UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed has held separate phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on the escalating Iran war and wider Middle East crisis.

➡️ The conversations focused on regional security, the impact of Iranian attacks and the need to halt escalation and return to diplomacy.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇸/🇽🇰/🇷🇸 NEW: Former US envoy Richard Grenell called the Kurti/Osmani leadership in Kosovo “a disaster,” saying “we all see it clearly,” in remarks referring to the Pristina authorities as separatist Kosovo leaders.

➡️ The comments highlight ongoing US criticism of Kosovo’s current government amid stalled Serbia–Kosovo dialogue.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—✈️ 🇧🇬/🇬🇷 NEW: Joint training flights by the Bulgarian and Greek air forces will take place in Bulgarian airspace under a decree allowing two Greek F-16s, their crews, and, if needed, up to 50 support personnel to enter and stay in the country, the Defence Ministry announced.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English