Balkan developments

published on 5/23/25 1:25 PM

The independent mayor of Bucharest is the new president of Romania

Nicusor Dan won the second round of the presidential election in Romania. With a voter turnout of 64.7 percent on May 18, he received 53.6 percent of the vote. His opponent, the far-right candidate George Simion, received 46.4 percent of the vote. ‎

Simion, who led by more than 20 percent in the first round, challenged his loss before the Constitutional Court on the grounds of foreign interference in the elections from France, Poland, Moldova and Spain. The magistrates rejected the appeal. ‎

Nicusor Dan is scheduled to be sworn in before the Romanian Parliament on May 26. ‎

He said he would like the four pro-Western parties to form a government headed by the current interim president, Ilie Bolognese. The new head of state has announced a reduction in the budget deficit to 7.5% and is against sending Romanian soldiers to Ukraine.

Youth population in Turkey is decreasing due to migration and low birth rate

According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), by 2024, people between the ages of 15 and 24 will make up 14.9% of Turkey's population. This is the lowest proportion in the last 84 years, TRT Haber reported. In the indicated age group, 51.2% are men and 48.8% are women. The largest share of young people is in the provinces of Hakkari, Sirnak and Siirt - over 20%. The smallest, around 12%, are young people in the provinces of Balıkesir, Mugla and Ordu.

The forecasts are that due to the falling birth rate and large migration from the country, the young population will continue to decrease. ‎

Again, according to TURKSTAT, over 6.7 million young Turkish citizens, or a quarter of the population between 15 and 34 years old, are neither working nor studying.

The US is showing belated interest in the management of Greek ports

Economic publications in Greece are reporting strong US interest in investments in Greek ports. Washington is pressuring Athens to gain control over 3 Greek ports. One is the port of Piraeus, where the operator is the Chinese giant COSCO.

The case with the port of Thessaloniki is even more complicated. The main block of shares there is owned by Ivan Savidis - a Russian of Greek origin, a former deputy from the Kremlin's United Russia party. For Thessaloniki, the Americans can only expect state shares in the port, which are only 7%, experts comment. Washington's interest in the port of Alexandroupolis also continues. ‎

The newspaper "Kathimerini" commented that an unofficial economic war is being waged between the US and China for Greek ports, reports the BNR correspondent in Greece Katya Peeva. ‎

Albania marks progress in EU accession negotiations

Tirana has opened a third cluster of the country's EU accession negotiations, the ATA agency reported. The news was announced at the Fifth Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference. The Albanian delegation in Brussels is led by the Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Affairs Igli Hasani. The cluster includes 8 key areas - customs, digital and media transformation, taxation, economic and monetary policy, social policy and employment, companies and industrial policy, science and research, education and culture. ‎

Albania applied for EU membership in 2009 and in June 2014 it received candidate status for membership. The European Commission held the first intergovernmental conference with the country in July 2022. Since then, Tirana has made rapid progress in accession negotiations.

North Macedonia negotiates a British investment loan for 6 billion euros

North Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski signed an Agreement on Political and Economic Cooperation with the United Kingdom in London with British Minister of Economy Gareth Thomas. Skopje is receiving a credit line of 6 billion euros to finance capital projects, MIA reports.

"We already have three ready-made projects - for the high-speed railway line along Corridor No. 10, for the construction of hospitals and for the establishment of a Medical Faculty. In the coming period, we will look for new projects in the energy and environmental sectors," said Nikoloski.

The opposition criticized that with the new loan, the public debt will exceed 115% of the country's GDP. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski categorically rejected speculation that North Macedonia would accept immigrants from the United Kingdom in exchange for the loan.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov
English version: Rositsa Petkova
Photos: BGNES, TURKSTAT, Facebook /Piraeus Port Authority, ec.europa.eu, Facebook /British Embassy Skopje

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