The Cypriot government says that Turkey is orchestrating this illegal immigration crisis, as most migrants coming to Cyprus travel from Turkey. They reportedly fly from Istanbul or Ankara to the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus, are then smuggled to the free, southern part of the Republic of Cyprus, and from there, under EU law, can apply for asylum.
Rusia își întărește prezența în Balcanii de Vest, fiind pe punctul de a dobândi o bază militară chiar în miezul Balcanilor, în spatele României și Bulgariei și în apropierea bazei americane din Kosovo și a sediului KFOR, forțele NATO din Kosovo.
Bosnia’s international peace overseer imposed changes to the election law aimed to prevent blockades of a regional government after polls closed in presidential and parliamentary vote on Sunday.
Former German politician Christian Schmidt, who has vast powers as international High Representative in Bosnia, acted to enable a more effective work of the government and parliament of the country’s autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation.
As the EU talks of ‘freedom’ from Russian gas for central and eastern Europe and the Balkans, brought by increased imports from Azerbaijan, sceptics warn it comes at a cost: increased reliance on a country engaged in a conflict and with a recent history of bribery and corruption in Europe.
A pre-election standoff between Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken an ugly turn, with rhetoric from the 1990s war reappearing. Ideally, politicians would make the reforms needed to settle the quarrel but, if not, the internationally appointed high representative should do so.
Bulgaria has offered to export electricity to Azerbaijan in exchange for expanding gas supplies, acting Economy Minister Nikola Stoyanov announced during his visit to Baku on Sunday (11 September).
“With such a scheme – bartering gas for electricity, Bulgaria could receive quantities in the next four to five months, when we need it most in the winter,” he told state television BNT.
Albanian authorities thwarted a second cyberattack over the weekend after Tirana, backed by the United States with pledges of support and fresh sanctions on Iran, severed all diplomatic ties with Tehran who it blames for the “sabotage”.
Meanwhile, hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal continue to fade as leading European countries expressed ‘serious doubts’ about Iran’s intentions.
The recent Turkish-Greek row over Twitter might be a taste of things to come
Rising tensions between Greece and Turkey over a simple goodwill tweet indicates how alarmingly volatile the relations between two NATO allies are becoming.
Albanian counter-terrorism police searched the empty Iranian embassy in Tirana on Thursday, hours after Iranian diplomats burned papers inside the premises following the severing of diplomatic ties over a cyberattack.
The Turkish and Greek foreign ministers write dueling letters to key international actors as leaders exchange barbs after Erdogan’s one-liner that Turkey “can come suddenly one night.”
The volatile waters of the Aegean Sea heated up again as Athens and Ankara sent dueling letters to the United Nations, the European Union and NATO, accusing each other of aggression, military threats and blatant violation of international law.