Croatia to build military base in Kosovo

During a visit to Pristina, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Radman said Zagreb opposes any change in the region's borders. After meeting with Kosovo's first diplomat, Donika Gervalla-Schwartz, Radman said Croatia, as an EU member, supports dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. As one of the first countries to recognize the new state's independence, Croatia "will seek to have Kosovo recognized by countries that have not done so so far," Radman said. He also supported the liberalization of the EU visa regime for Kosovo citizens. According to Serbia's Public Radio and Television (RTS), the meeting agreed that Croatia would build its military base in Kosovo, which would boost security in the region. Zagreb has already announced that it will increase its contingent in the NATO mission in Kosovo - KFOR.

Greece strictly adheres to the Lausanne Treaty on Minorities

The Greek Foreign Ministry has denied allegations that Athens violates the rights of the Muslim minority. The Muslim community in Thrace of 120,000 inhabitants is "thriving", writes Kathimerini newspaper, quoted by BGNES. The statement came after a visit to the area by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Kiran. He accused Greece of restricting the religious and linguistic freedoms of the Muslim population, which he described as "Turkish".

"Greece remains firmly committed to its commitments, fully respecting international law, which is the compass of its foreign policy," Greek diplomats said, adding that they were implementing the provisions of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which recognizes the existence of a religious Muslim minority in the north of Greece.

Serbia stimulates vaccination with a 25-euro bonus

Serbian authorities are distributing vouchers for 3,000 dinars (25 euros) to every citizen over the age of 16 who gets vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccines against the coronavirus by May 31^st.

"As we cannot take negative discriminatory measures against those who will not receive the vaccine, we are considering how to reward those who have decided to be vaccinated. The goal is to reward those who have shown responsibility and to invite others," explained President Aleksandar Vucic.

He promised that by the end of May, approximately 3 million people would be immunized in Serbia with at least one dose in order to achieve collective immunity. According to the country's prime minister, Ana Brnabić, more than 25% of the population are already vaccinated.

Roaming between the countries of the Western Balkans is abolished

From July 1 this year roaming between the countries of the Western Balkans will be abolished. This means that citizens and businesses in the region will have more money, Majlinda Bregu, secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council, told Free Europe Radio, quoted by BGNES.

North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo will start implementing the agreement from the Second Digital Summit in 2019. The first phase of the agreement was introduced at a time when the price of roaming was reduced by 80%, the Second phase or complete elimination of roaming was left for the summer of 2021.

Young people in the region believe that facilitating roaming is beneficial, just as much as freedom of movement, which is why this is a great message for them, said Bregu.

Inflation in Turkey is gaining momentum again

Although Turkey has seen economic growth of 6% since the beginning of 2021, on an annual basis prices have risen by 17.14%. In April alone, the increase was 1.68%. The rate of inflation is moving away from the set target for an annual level of 5%, commented the Turkish opposition publications.

New Central Bank chief appointed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised his inflation forecast for the year from 9.4% to 12.2% by the end of the year. Therefore, he does not want to cut the key interest rate, which remains at 19%, despite President Erdogan's fierce opposition to high interest rates to fight inflation.

The economic consequences of the pandemic and the reshuffles in the Turkish Central Bank have depreciated the Turkish lira by 13% since the beginning of the year, Reuters commented.

Compiled by Ivo Ivanov

English version Rositsa Petkova