—❗️🇪🇺/🇷🇺 POLITICO: "A member of European Council President António Costa’s cabinet reached out to open a channel of communication with the Kremlin, an EU official has told POLITICO."

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬/🇪🇺 WATCH: Bulgarian FM Velislava Petrova-Chamova stated that Sofia will not fully support the 21st EU sanctions package against Russia.

➡️ She emphasized that Bulgaria opposes energy-related sanctions to protect its national energy stability, as well as measures targeting Patriarch Kirill, warning that such "symbolic" sanctions could be exploited for anti-EU propaganda.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱 THE ECONOMIST: "Albania’s new protest movement is dominated by the young—some call it a Gen Z revolt. But demonstrations without strong leaders and concrete plans may end up achieving little."

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇷🇸 (🇧🇦) /🇮🇷 WATCH: In a recent interview with journalist Lara Logan, Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik claimed that al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and Iranian IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani were present in Bosnia during the 1990s conflict.

➡️ Dodik alleged that foreign Islamist fighters and Iranian operatives played a significant role in the war, stating that hundreds of IRGC members operated in the country under diplomatic cover while foreign jihadists fought alongside Bosnian Muslim forces.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇪🇺/🇽🇰 WATCH: A newly adopted resolution calls on Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain to formally recognize Kosovo without delay.

➡️ The measure passed with 412 votes in favor, 174 against, and 58 abstentions.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇪🇺❌🇦🇱 POLITICO: "The European Parliament has urged Albania to suspend construction in protected areas, piling pressure on PM Edi Rama over a proposed Jared Kushner-linked luxury resort that has sparked the country’s largest protests in decades."

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇹🇷/🇩🇪 NEW: A new report by Berlin's state intelligence office has named Turkey as one of the top four foreign powers conducting extensive espionage operations in the German capital.

➡️ The 140-page assessment warns that these intelligence services are actively engaging in cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and sabotage, marking a rare and stark public rebuke of a fellow NATO ally.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬❌🇲🇰 WATCH: Bulgarian PM Rumen Radev has strongly criticized North Macedonia’s leadership, accusing them of acting against the interests of their own citizens by fueling hate speech, distorting history, and failing to protect basic human rights.

➡️ He emphasized that Skopje’s diplomatic obstacles are now an issue with the European Union as a whole, rather than just a bilateral dispute with Sofia.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🛢🇷🇸/🇭🇺 NEW: The Serbian government and Hungarian energy company MOL have signed a strategic agreement regarding the NIS oil company.

➡️ Under the deal, Serbia will purchase an additional 5% of shares in NIS, while the refinery is guaranteed to operate for at least the next 10 years at the same capacity it had prior to US sanctions.

➡️ Meanwhile, the separate purchase agreement for MOL Group to acquire a 56.15% majority stake in NIS from Russia's Gazpromneft is still being finalized.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—☦️ 🇹🇷/🇺🇸/🇪🇺 Bloomberg: "Türkiye plans to reopen the long-shuttered Halki seminary as a university, reviving an institution central to Orthodox Christianity and addressing a longstanding demand from the US and the EU."

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸/🇧🇬 Serbian King and Bulgarian Queen

🔗 една българка

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱 NEW: In an interview with Vanity Fair Italy, Albanian PM Edi Rama described Hamas as the "absolute evil" while emphasizing Tirana's need to maintain good relations with Israel, Turkey, and Gulf states.

➡️ Rama noted that Albania cannot afford a restrictive "barricade" style of foreign policy, adding that while he disagrees with some actions of the Israeli right, he is not in a position to offer moral lessons to others.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English