—🇧🇬 NEW: Bulgarian pop star Dara, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, has been granted honorary citizenship in her hometown of Varna alongside a football-field-sized plot of land on the Black Sea coast.

➡️ Following the coastal town's decision, three additional Bulgarian cities are preparing to present matching proposals to grant the singer honorary citizenship.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇰🇷 NEW: Albania has officially participated in the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul, highlighting its sweeping post-communist transformation.

➡️ Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Edi Rama remarked that Albania was once the "North Korea of Europe" during its period of strict isolation, but is now actively moving toward integration into the European Union.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—NOTE: While Turkey has long protested the militarization of these territories, citing demilitarization clauses in the 1947 Paris Treaty, Greece is utilizing the shifting security window to transition from a defensive posture to a long-term projection of air power.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇦🇹🇷🇺⚡️— Former Austrian intelligence officer convicted of spying for Russia

An Austrian court has found Egisto Otta guilty of spying for Russia. He helped Moscow persecute its opponents and sold government laptops on the orders of FSB agent Marselka. Otta was arrested following an investigation by The Insider.

🇪🇺 Legion Europa | Group Chat

—🇭🇺/🇷🇺 NEW: Hungary will seek to develop its relations with Russia based on mutual interest, FM Anita Orbán announced.

➡️ While emphasizing that Russia remains an important regional partner, the FM stressed that bilateral relations cannot be structured around a one-sided dependence.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—☦️🇷🇸 WATCH: Thousands of people have gathered in Belgrade for the annual Spasovdan procession to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.

➡️ The Orthodox Christian holiday, marking the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven 40 days after Easter, served as a powerful expression of faith in the Serbian capital.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇹🇷🇹🇷⚖️📝 — Turkey court rules to oust opposition leader in latest blow to Erdogan's Kemalist challengers

➡️ Ankara's Court of Appeals has ruled that Türkiye's main opposition party, the CHP, acted illegally when it removed its long-time leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, during a 2023 party congress.

➡️ The court ordered Kılıçdaroğlu's immediate reinstatement and the removal of the current party leader, Özgür Özel.

➡️ The CHP rejected the ruling as an "attempted coup", ​while the government - which denies criticism that it uses courts to target political opponents - said it renewed Turks' faith in the rule of law.

🇹🇷 The Kemalist secular and centrist CHP, running roughly even with Erdogan's Islamic-rooted and conservative ruling AK Party in polls, has also faced an unprecedented judicial crackdown ​since 2024 in which hundreds of members and elected officials have been detained as part of corruption charges that the party denies.

@BellumActaNews

—🇸🇮 NEW: Slovenia’s center-right parties have officially signed a coalition agreement today to form a new government.

➡️ Supported by Speaker Zoran Stevanovic's Resnica party, the alliance secures a 48-seat majority in parliament, paving the way for Janez Janša (SDS) to return as PM.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🪖🇽🇰/🇺🇸/🇩🇪 NEW: Kosovo is actively negotiating with defense companies from the United States and Germany to acquire modern anti-aircraft weapons systems, Defense Minister Ejup Maqedonci announced.

➡️ The planned procurement aims to upgrade the operational capabilities of the Kosovo Security Forces amid ongoing efforts to bolster the territory's overall air defense infrastructure.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇲🇪/🇦🇱 NEW: The town of Tuzi in Montenegro was decorated with Albanian and Montenegrin flags to mark Independence Day.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—⚽️🇧🇦 WATCH: Bosnia and Herzegovina have announced their first-ever World Cup squad.

And the promo video is absolute cinema.

🔗 Football Tweet

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇯🇵 WATCH: Albanian PM Edi Rama welcomed with official state ceremony in Tokyo.

➡️ Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba met with the Albanian leader during his official visit to Japan, reacting to Rama's physical stature upon their initial meeting by exclaiming, "Big!"

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇺🇸🇮🇱❌🇮🇷❗️ — CBS News reports that the Trump administration is preparing for a fresh round of military strikes against Iran

Some members of the U.S. military and intelligence community have cancelled their plans this weekend in anticipation of possible strikes

@BellumActaNews