—🇮🇷 WATCH: A massive funeral procession and memorial ceremony are underway in Tehran to honor Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his killing.

➡️ The main ceremony is being held at the Imam Khomeini Mosque, drawing official state delegations from nearly 100 countries as a massive public procession moves through the streets of the Iranian capital.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬/🇮🇷 Bulgarian nationalist MPs travel to Tehran for Khamenei’s funeral

➡️ Bulgaria’s far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party has dispatched members of parliament Angel Georgiev and Zlatan Zlatanov to Tehran to attend the state funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

➡️ Party leader Kostadin Kostadinov praised the invitation as a distinct "honour," claiming his representatives were the only European politicians present at the mourning ceremonies in the Iranian capital.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🪖🇭🇷⚡️🇷🇸 Croatia to upgrade Rafale fleet to match upcoming Serbian jets

➡️ The Croatian Ministry of Defense is launching a three-year modernization program to upgrade 10 of its second-hand Rafale fighter jets to the latest F4.1 standard.

➡️ The tactical upgrade will outfit the fleet with next-generation infrared missile approach warning systems (DDM-NG), Front Sector Optronics (OSF), and Scorpion helmet-mounted displays for pilots.

➡️ The modernization is a direct response to neighbor Serbia's upcoming acquisition of 12 brand-new, factory-standard Rafale jets, allowing Zagreb to preserve the regional military balance by ensuring its fleet matches the capabilities of Belgrade's future aircraft.

🔗 VIHOR

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇫🇷 French aircraft carrier who sat in an Omani port for the entire duration of the 3rd Gulf War is called back home

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will return to its home port after a nearly two-month deployment near the Strait of Hormuz as an interim peace deal between the US and Iran eases tensions in the key waterway.

European leaders have pledged naval assets to support the reopening of the strait after the war, with France and the UK leading a group of more than 40 nations that have committed kit and personnel. Commercial shipping through Hormuz has picked up after the US and Iran reached a ceasefire deal last month, easing a global energy crunch.

France had stationed its only aircraft carrier along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula since mid-May. If necessary, it could have been deployed to the Strait of Hormuz within two or three days. It has also deployed other assets, including two minehunter vessels, to the area.

🔗 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-04/french-aircraft-carrier-set-to-head-home-after-hormuz-deployment

—❗️🇷🇴/🇪🇺 Black Sea natural gas offers Romania historic opportunity to become EU's top producer

➡️ The exploitation of natural gas in the Black Sea provides Romania with a historic opportunity to reclaim its status as the most important gas producer in the European Union, according to Dumitru Chisăliţă, President of the Intelligent Energy Association.

➡️ While the project promises to reduce imports, improve the trade balance, and boost industrial competitiveness, Chisăliţă warns that natural wealth does not automatically create prosperity.

➡️ The true strategic value will depend on the state's institutional capacity to invest the resulting revenues into long-term economic and technological advantages rather than relying solely on raw resource wealth.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇹🇷 NEW: Türkiye has officially introduced a nationwide deposit return system for all bottles and cans to boost the recycling of plastic, metal, and glass while curbing littering in nature and along roadsides.

➡️ Just five days after the program went into effect, more than 7.6 million beverage containers have already been recovered, and over 1.3 million citizens have registered for the sustainability initiative.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇹🇷 WATCH: Turkey has scaled up its military backing for the Syrian army by delivering a new batch of armored vehicles.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇺🇸 🇹🇷 🧭 — U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Türkiye's Ankara for the NATO Summit, meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

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—🇪🇺/🇷🇸/🇷🇺 WATCH: Poland’s former Ambassador to the Council of Europe, Urszula Gacek, warned that Serbia’s entry into the European Union would pose a significantly greater challenge than Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

➡️ Speaking on Serbia's geopolitical alignment, Gacek stressed that Belgrade's membership would go beyond mere lobbying for Moscow, effectively giving Russia a direct seat at the EU decision-making table.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇲🇪/🇪🇺 NEW: The government of Montenegro and a faction of the parliamentary opposition have officially signed a new agreement brokered by European Union mediators, state media reported.

➡️ The accord outlines critical legislative amendments to the country's laws on internal affairs and the National Security Agency.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇴 NEW: A Romanian judge has issued a warning rather than a harsher criminal penalty to the former bodyguard of politician Călin Georgescu, who had been accused of installing a cross bearing an Iron Guard symbol.

➡️ The court ruled that the legionary cross is not directly racist, a position supported during the trial by an ethnology expert who testified that the artifact constitutes a traditional Christian symbol.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English