by CBBSS | May 25, 2018 | Regional News
EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager announced that Brussels has settled a longstanding dispute with Gazprom by reaching an agreement with the Russian gas giant that will impose new conditions on how it conducts business with European countries. However, the... read more
by CBBSS | May 25, 2018 | Regional News
On Thursday, the Dutch-led investigation into the downing of MH17 announced findings that the Buk missile that shot down the passenger aircraft over Eastern Ukraine came from a launcher in Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade. Then on Friday, The Netherlands and... read more
by CBBSS | May 24, 2018 | Regional News
The European Central Bank stated in its biennial report that problems linger in Bulgaria relating to the independence of the country’s central bank, inflation and the lack of structural reforms, the Financial Times reports. Sofia aims to join the ERM, a two-year... read more
by CBBSS | May 23, 2018 | Regional News
Despite pressure from the West to limit Bulgaria’s energy dependence on Russia, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev met with Putin in Sochi and touted the possibility of direct Russian gas deliveries to Bulgaria, as well as the construction of the Belene nuclear... read more
by CBBSS | May 23, 2018 | Regional News
Skopje’s Criminal Court sentenced former Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski to two years behind bars for his involvement in the illicit secret purchase of a luxury Mercedes, Balkan Insight reports. Judge Dobrila Kacarska said Gruevski solicited the purchase of a... read more
by CBBSS | May 22, 2018 | Regional News
The Turkish central bank’s May survey of businesses and analysts found expectations for Turkey’s end-of-2018 inflation rate hit 11.07 percent, rising a whole point from 10.07 percent in April, bne IntelliNews reports. On Monday, the lira sunk to new record... read more
by CBBSS | May 21, 2018 | Regional News
A report issued by the UK Parliament’s foreign affairs select committee states Putin and his allies are “hiding and laundering their corrupt assets in London,” which is putting British national security at risk and allowing the circumvention of... read more
by CBBSS | May 21, 2018 | Regional News
Skopje’s Criminal Court acquitted Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev of the charge of having solicited a bribe of 200,000 euros to help a local businessman buy land in his home town of Strumica, Balkan Insight reports. Zaev was charged with the offense as he was raising major... read more
by CBBSS | May 20, 2018 | Regional News
A Pristina court sentenced eight Kosovo citizens to time in jail ranging from 18 months to 10 years for planning to carry out attacks in Albania against the Israeli national football team, Balkan Insight reports. The defendants in the case were reportedly acting on... read more
by CBBSS | May 20, 2018 | Regional News
Four gunmen stormed a church in the Chechen capital of Grozny Saturday, killing at least one churchgoer and two police officers, The New York Times reports. The gunmen, who were also armed with knives, hatchets and homemade explosives, initially took hostages. Police... read more
by CBBSS | May 20, 2018 | Regional News
Following talks this week with Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev said a compromise name of “Republic of Ilindenska Macedonia” is acceptable to both sides, the Washington Post reports. “Ilindenska” means “the day of the prophet Elijah,” and it refers to... read more
by CBBSS | May 19, 2018 | Regional News
A couple months after his poisoning in Salisbury, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was discharged from the hospital, the BBC reports. Skripal’s daughter, Yulia Skripal, who was also poisoned, was released from the hospital last month. They have been discharged... read more
by CBBSS | May 16, 2018 | Regional News
In response to Israeli forces killing 60 Palestinians during clashes on the Gaza border, Ankara expelled Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, declared three days of mourning and called for an emergency meeting of Muslim nations. In turn, Israel told the Turkish... read more
by CBBSS | May 15, 2018 | Regional News
Erdogan said in a Bloomberg Television interview in London that he plans to take greater control of the Turkish economy following his upcoming election as Turkey’s executive president. Particularly, Erdogan plans to force Turkey’s central bank to lower... read more
by CBBSS | May 15, 2018 | Regional News
Echoing the words of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, acting Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said at the UN Human Rights Council that the rights of gays were not violated in Chechnya because there are no LGBT community members in the North Caucasus... read more
by CBBSS | May 15, 2018 | Regional News
New Armenian PM Nikol Pashinian met with Putin and reassured him that in the aftermath of Armenia’s revolution the “strategic alliance” between Moscow and Yerevan is not in doubt, RFE/RL reports. Russia has a military base in Armenia, and Yerevan... read more
by CBBSS | May 14, 2018 | Regional News
Turkey’s current account deficit increased 54 percent year on year in March, growing to $4.81 billion, the Turkish news source Ahval reports. Meanwhile, Ankara’s 12-month deficit increased to $55.38 billion, or 6.2 percent of economic output.... read more
by CBBSS | May 12, 2018 | Regional News
A pair of U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jets intercepted two Russian long-range bombers off the coast of Alaska on Friday, the Washington Post reports. Russia’s Tu-95 bombers were flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone in the Bering Sea, reportedly as close... read more
by CBBSS | May 12, 2018 | Regional News
Ahead of Erdogan’s upcoming May 20 rally in Sarajevo, Bakir Izetbegovic, the Bosniak member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, said Erdogan is not popular in the West because he is a “long-awaited great leader for the Muslims.” Read... read more
by CBBSS | May 12, 2018 | Regional News
With the price of oil rising, Moscow is claiming it may have a 2018 budget surplus of 440.6 billion rubles ($7.1bn), rather than a previously expected deficit of 1.27 trillion rubles ($20.5bn), bne IntelliNews reports. The new projection equates to a surplus of .45... read more
