—🕊🇦🇱/🇻🇦 UPDATE: Albania declares April 26 a national day of mourning for Pope Francis.

The Albanian government has designated Saturday, April 26, 2025, as a national day of mourning to honor Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88. Flags will be flown at half-mast in all state and public institutions. This decision, proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama and approved by the Council of Ministers, aligns with the nation's Constitution and the Law "On National Symbols".

📰 Source: Telegrafi.

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—🕊🇭🇷/🇻🇦 UPDATE: Mixed reactions in Catholic Croatia following the death of Pope Francis.

While Pope Francis was respected in Croatia for his humanism, many criticized him for refusing to canonize Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac, who collaborated with fascist forces during WWII and was accused of forcibly converting Serbs to Catholicism.

📰 Source: Balkanist channel.

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—🇭🇷/🇦🇱/🇽🇰 NEW: Scott Ritter warns EU and NATO are collapsing; cites Croatian-Albanian military alliance as a sign.

Former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter stated that growing internal divisions are leading to the collapse of the European Union and NATO, highlighting the new military alliance between Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo as evidence of looming instability in the Balkans.

📰 Source: East Info.

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—🇷🇴 NEW: Romanian ultranationalist Simion leads polls ahead of Dan, Antonescu, and Ponta in tight race for runoff.

Romania will hold new presidential elections on May 4, with a highly contested second-round qualification expected among top candidates.

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🇻🇦 This was Saint Peter the day of the Pope's funeral; a not-so-seen image I wanted to bring up for you guys here.

🇻🇦 Pope Francis' tomb at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome; may he rest in peace.

🇻🇦 Faith.

🇦🇱🤝🇮🇱 — Albanian PM Edi Rama has criticized anti-Israel protests in Western countries:

"It is disturbing when you see students and illuminated people in the oldest democracies protesting with the most heinous slogans against Israel while waving the LGBT flags, while if there is a hell for the LGBTs, it's in the Gaza Strip under Hamas.

It is heartbreaking when you think under what an evil dictatorship the Palestinian people are."

🇷🇴🛰⚡️ The National Research Authority (ANC) revealed "CORVUS", Romania's first satellite.

Corvus is capable to detect jammers who disrupt radio communications on Romanian soil.

The project was funded by the Romanian Ministry of Defense (MoD) through the General Munitions Directorate (DPA).

The "CORVUS" satellite as well as the command & control center was designed and manufactured entirely in Romania by several institutions who coalesced to form RISE, Romanian In Space Engineering. Partners include the ANC, The Institute for Space Sciences, Plasma & Radiation Physics — INFLPR and the National Aerospace Research Development Institute "Elie Carafoli" (INCAS), the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA), Rartel S.A. and the Special Telecommunication Service (STS).

@Wallachian_Gazette

—💡🇷🇸 NEW: Serbia mandates energy passports for all buildings under new law.

Under the amended Law on Planning and Construction, Serbia will require energy efficiency certificates for all buildings—public within 3 years, residential within 10—replacing previous rules applying only to new constructions.

While this may seem irrelevant to most outside Serbia—except local property owners—there’s a subtle geopolitical signal here that shouldn’t be overlooked. The move suggests Serbia is taking its EU accession process seriously, as mandatory energy certifications are a standard EU practice and may have been encouraged or required by Brussels.

📰 Source: Serbia In My Mind channel.

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—🏛🇭🇷/🇷🇸 UPDATE: The National Independent has now published the same information we shared with you on this channel weeks ago—along with the concerns we raised at the time regarding its authenticity—about Croatia enacting a law to remove Serbian monuments from post-1990 cemeteries.

This raises our confidence on the authenticity of such information. Following the information this newspaper is sharing, new legislation mandates removal of tombstones with pro-Serb military inscriptions such as "died for Serbian Krajina" or "on Serbian land" if installed after May 30, 1990; grave owners have 30 days to comply or face €1,000–€5,000 fines.

📰 Source: The National Independent.

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—🇦🇱/🇧🇬 NEW: Albanian President Begaj welcomes Bulgaria’s renewed support for Albania’s bid to join the European Union.

President Radev and Albanian officials emphasized merit-based progress in accession talks as the right model for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.

📰 Source: Albanian President on X.

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—🚫🇧🇦/🇷🇸 URGENT: Interpol rejects Bosnia’s renewed request for arrest warrant against Milorad Dodik.

Interpol has dismissed the Bosnian court’s appeal to issue a red notice for Republika Srpska President Dodik, citing political motivation behind the charges.

📰 Source: The National Independent.

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—🗣🇷🇸/🇲🇰 NEW: Serbia condemns Macedonian official’s NATO bombing remarks as offensive.

The Serbian Embassy in Skopje denounced Vice PM Arben Fetai’s statement marking NATO’s 1999 bombing as a "historic moment" that stopped "genocide," calling it deeply disrespectful to Serbian victims and harmful to bilateral respect.

📰 Source: Serbian Herald channel.

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