Turkish lira depreciated by 19% since the beginning of the year

The Turkish lira has dropped to a record low against the US dollar since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. 1 dollar is now exchanged for 7.307 lira, a drop below the previous record of 7.26 in May.

The depreciation of the lira since the beginning of the year is by 19%, Bloomberg reports. The Turkish central bank announced that it was closely monitoring the situation and would make use of all available instruments to mitigate the fluctuations. 

The Turkish lira crisis is the result of the high inflation rate, the negative balance of current payments and the government pressure for cheap credit to stimulate the economy which was weakened even before the coronavirus pandemic. The growing tension between Turkey and the EU is also having its effect on the lira, analysts quoted by Bloomberg say.

Greece and Egypt sign agreement on exclusive economic zone in Mediterranean

Egypt and Greece signed an agreement designating an exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean between the two countries, Reuters reports.

After the ceremony Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that the agreement “is the absolute opposite of the illegal, void and legally unfounded memorandum of understanding that was signed between Turkey and Tripoli. Following the signing of this agreement, the non-existent Turkish-Libyan memorandum has ended up where it belonged from the beginning: in the trash can.”

Turkey has stated that it does not recognize the agreement signed between Greece and Egypt. The country issued a warning of a naval gunnery exercise near Antalya on 10 and 11 August.

France and Cyprus enter new stage of military cooperation

The agreement on cooperation in defence between Cyprus and France, signed on April, 2017 came into effect on 1 August, the Cyprus “Liberal” writes. 

The agreement deepens cooperation in energy and maritime security, in early warning and crisis management, as well as in combatting terrorism and piracy. At a military level the agreement envisages cooperation in armaments and defence technology, joint military exercises and rescue operation training.

France supported Cyprus in its dispute with Turkey over potential natural gas deposits rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

USA concerned over democracy in Serbia

The US secretary of state's special envoy for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer has stated that the USA was concerned over current trends in Serbia, the BTA reports. The diplomat added that what he had in mind were the latest elections, the protests in different towns and the investigations into the financing of journalists, NGOs and individuals. Matthew Palmer cited the Freedom House report according to which Serbia has dropped out of the semiconsolidated democracy category and into the hybrid regime category. Matthew Palmer stated that the recent election in Serbia had not provided many choices. He added that “the US strongly supports Serbia's European perspective and its bloc's membership. But, for that to happen, Serbia needs to qualify, i.e., to carry out democratic reforms.”

Romanian restaurant operators want food establishments reopened

Then turnover of hotels, restaurants and cafes in Romania is down by 70% compared to 2019. More than 40% of them have stopped operating due to the pandemic, reads an open letter by the sector addressed to Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, Ziare.com reports. The entrepreneurs in the sector say that they are being treated unfairly by the government compared to the other industries, and express concern over the disastrous effects of the pandemic. The association of hotel and restaurant owners in Romania says that before the pandemic they had an annual turnover of around EUR 5 billion, with 400,000 people employed in the sector, or 10% of all people employed in the private sector. They are not happy that Orban is refusing to discuss the reopening of restaurants until a downward tendency in the number of new Covid-19 cases is registered.

Zoran Zaev to choose which Albanian party to form coalition with

The leader of the Social Democratic Union in North Macedonia Zoran Zaev said he was certain he would form a stable and successful government with a 4-year term of office. Zaev stated he believed in the success of the future government on the basis of the election results, the fact that there are no problems between Macedonians and Albanians in the country, and that the country has no problems with its neighbours Greece and Bulgaria regionally. He announced he would choose which of the two leading Albanian parties he would form a coalition with, but that this would take place on the basis of an agreement for cleaning up the judicial system, and for looking into the property and capital of each and every politician and official. Zoran Zaev also promised to reduce the number of ministers and the administration by 20%, Sloboden Pecat writes.

Ivo Ivanov