Balkan Developments

Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU to prioritize support for Ukraine

Cyprus is the only EU country under foreign occupation and we understand Ukraine best, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said at a meeting with European journalists in Nicosia. He said that his country has been preparing for 2 years for the Presidency of the Council of the EU, which began in early January. The Presidency has set as one of its top tasks until the end of June the continuation of support for Kiev.

Maia Sandu reopens the topic of unification of Romania and Moldova

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has caused a storm of reactions in Bucharest and Chisinau with an interview for a British podcast. Speaking to The Rest is Politics, she says that "for a small country like Moldova, it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive as a democracy and a sovereign state, resisting Russia". Therefore, if there was a referendum, she would vote for the unification of Moldova with Romania. In Chisinau, pro-Russian parties accused her of treason, demanded prosecutorial intervention and her resignation.

Bucharest welcomed Sandu's words. The majority of Romanian politicians pointed out that a unification must take into account the will of the citizens of Moldova. Some warned of the risk of politicizing the issue and using it for propaganda purposes in the context of the war in Ukraine and pressure from Russia, romania.europalibera.org report.

Young Croats from the diaspora to give advice to Zagreb on emigration issues

The Croatian government has established a Council of Young Croats Abroad as an advisory body to the Central State Office for Croats Abroad. The young people will give advice on how to preserve Croatian identity abroad and how to encourage the return of young people to the country.

"In Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Croatian diaspora, young people have shown a strong motivation to participate," Alen Matanić, a spokesman for the office, told the HINA agency. He added that the Council of Young Croats Abroad will be regularly informed about the opportunities for education and work in Croatia for the diaspora and will monitor the implementation of the policies and measures proposed by them.

For 3 years about 30,000 Croats who lived and worked abroad have returned to Croatia.

Oil pipeline from Greece to North Macedonia restarts operation

The Thessaloniki-Skopje oil products pipeline is operating again, announced Andreas Shiamishis, CEO of Helleniq Energy. A vertical energy supply corridor is back in operation, through which mainly fuel for transportation will pass. The pipeline will facilitate Greek exports not only to North Macedonia but also to neighbouring markets such as Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria. At the same time, it will free Thessaloniki from freight traffic and environmental problems caused by the movement of trucks, Shiamishis told ANA-MPA.

The 213-km-long Thessaloniki-Skopje oil pipeline was built in 2002 and connects Helleniq Energy’s refinery in Thessaloniki and its subsidiary OKTA refinery near Skopje. The pipeline was shut down 13 years ago due to low profitability.

Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul rejects Moscow’s accusations

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has described the accusations of Russian foreign intelligence as fiction and fake news, skai.gr television reported. Earlier, TASS reported that Patriarch Bartholomew and British intelligence were trying to tear the Orthodox churches of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia away from the Moscow Patriarchate and grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Church of Montenegro in order to harm the Serbian Church.

The response of the Patriarchate in Istanbul states that "The Mother Church of Constantinople, which is also the Mother of the Church of Russia, expresses its deepest sorrow over the latest Russian attack directed against His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Since 2018, when the Ecumenical Patriarchate resolved to grant autocephalous status to the Church of Ukraine, the Mother Church has consistently refrained from responding to the innumerable similar assaults emanating from ecclesiastical and political centers and figures in Russia. It maintains the same stance today."

Compiled by: Ivo Ivanov