Only a quarter of Bulgarians trust Russian President Vladimir Putin as support for him has continued to decline since the start of the war, a nationally representative survey by Alpha Research has found.
The drop in Putin’s rating in Bulgaria in just one year is remarkable – a year ago, his positive rating was 55%. Now 61% of Bulgarians distrust the Russian president.
Following another overwhelming victory for the ruling Fidesz party, Viktor Orban continues his ‘peacock dance’ while the joint opposition, like Saturn, starts devouring its children.
Hungary is coming to terms with the fourth consecutive landslide victory for the prime minister, Viktor Orban, and his nationalist-populist Fidesz party.
Elections in Serbia are all about the Leader, the “boss.” The Party comes a distant second.
Basking in the glow of another election win on April 3, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Serbs he was “the proudest man in the county.”
The reason for such pride was the 59.3 per cent he notched up in the presidential election, or roughly 800,000 more than all the other candidates combined.
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated seven individuals and one entity across four countries in the Western Balkans pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14033. This is the second action OFAC has taken under E.O. 14033 targeting persons who threaten the stability of the region through corruption, criminal activity, and other destabilizing behavior. Today’s action reinforces Treasury’s commitment to promoting accountability for actors in the Western Balkans region engaged in destabilizing and corrupt behavior. Such corrupt behavior undermines the rule of law and economic growth, and it deprives people in these countries of opportunities and stability.
Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.
Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.
What’s left of Turkey’s presidential system may be further eroded if Erdogan follows in Hungary’s “illiberal” footsteps.
Diplomacy has been termed “the art of deceit,” but few doubt that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was anything but sincere when he phoned Hungary’s Viktor Orban today to congratulate him on his landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
When
April 1, 2022
9:00 am – 10:00 am
The EU will continue supporting peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed Wednesday, noting that this has become particularly important after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Why the Original Agreement’s Flaws Remain Unresolved
After months of discussion, negotiators appear close to an agreement to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Although some issues—including a series of last-minute Russian demands—remain outstanding, both the United States and Iran appear committed to securing a deal in the coming days or weeks. The agreement, if fully implemented, would bring the United States and Iran into compliance with the original pact, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), rolling back parts of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from the most severe U.S. sanctions regime ever imposed.
Two often-cited principles, each with established roots in international law, are frequently in conflict — the territorial integrity of states and the self-determination of peoples.