No worshipers in temples for Easter

Montenegro has banned public gatherings during Easter.

Authorities in Belgrade have rejected a request by the Serbian Patriarchate to allow believers to attend the festive service on Sunday, when the Orthodox Church celebrates Easter. Leading Serbian epidemiologist Predrag Kon commented that the church's request "denies everything Serbia is trying to do to save people's lives." The curfew in Serbia for the upcoming Easter holidays will start from Friday, April 17th at 5:00 pm and continue until Tuesday, April 21st.

In North Macedonia, authorities have imposed curfews and explicitly banned people from gathering for religious services. The curfew is even longer than in Serbia - it starts Thursday afternoon on April 16th and will continue until the morning of April 21st.

Church services in Greece before and during the Easter holidays are only permitted behind closed doors. Only priests can attend, no laymen are allowed in.

In Bulgaria, churches remain open, yet the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Covid-19 Operational Headquarters have called on believers to act conscientiously and pray from their homes.

Partial restrictions on believers in Turkey during Ramadan

The fast during the holy month for Ramadan for Muslims poses no danger to the spread of the coronavirus and should not be delayed, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs Diyanet ordered. However, Diyanet specified that mass prayers would not be held if the coronavirus epidemic continued. The mosques remain open for individual visits throughout the day, but not for group prayers. The regime will continue through Ramadan. The holy month will last from the evening of April 23rd to May 23rd.

Disputes in Romania over extending the state of emergency

Leaders of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) and Pro-Romania parties Calin Popescu Tariceanu and Victor Ponta have stated in advance that they will vote in parliament against President Klaus Iohannis' order to extend the state of emergency for another 30 days. According to the opposition, the economy of the whole country should not be paralyzed. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis arrived in Romania at a time when it has an external debt of more than 100 billion euros, of which 40% is government debt, amid a sharp fall in foreign investment and a large budget deficit, according to data from the National Bank of Romania.

NATO to help fight against fake news in North Macedonia and Montenegro

NATO is setting up teams to counter hybrid threats in North Macedonia and Montenegro. The reason is the increase in false news and misinformation from Russia and China during the coronavirus crisis. US Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchinson has said that the Alliance expects Skopje to provide additional information on forming a team aimed at preparing the country's media for how to respond to Moscow's misinformation. According to the diplomat, being NATO’s newest member, North Macedonia is a special target of the Kremlin's misinformation campaign.

Covid-19 leads to decline in crime related to sale and trafficking of drugs

The manoeuvring space of drug traffickers has been reduced due to the spread of the new coronavirus and the many drug barriers across the Balkan countries to the strongest markets in the world hamper this activity. The closure of borders and the increased controls have led to a drastic reduction in crimes related to the sale or trafficking of drugs. The Pobjeda newspaper, published in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, cites the security services, according to which the usual heroin distribution channels go through Turkey and the cocaine comes from South America.

The sale of drugs in the streets has also been minimized due to the ban on going out.

Compiled by Ivo Ivanov