Balkan developments

US diplomat appointed as acting high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Senior U.S. diplomat Louis J Crishok has been appointed acting High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has been charged with keeping peace until a permanent successor to Germany’s Christian Schmidt is selected. German diplomat Schmidt resigned in May in what he labelled a surprise departure citing “huge and unexpected” pressure from Washington, reported Euractiv.

European countries, Russia and the United States have disagreed in recent years over the power held by the high representative, who is appointed by the steering board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) tasked with overseeing the Dayton peace accords.

PIC selected the current Principal Deputy High Representative Louis J Crishok to serve in the role until July 14, by which time a new permanent officeholder is expected to be chosen.

Guests at NATO Summit in Ankara to be welcomed with Turkish delight and cologne

Taxi drivers meeting foreign delegates arriving at the airport for the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara on July 7 and 8 will wear white shirts and grey trousers and will offer Turkish delight, chilled bottled water, and cologne to provide relief from the summer heat, the online edition of Hurriyet reported. It published photos of boxes of Turkish delight bearing the NATO logo and the English inscription: “Welcome to Ankara!” Car air fresheners with the same message and logo have also been produced.

Taxi drivers are among the first people visitors to the country will encounter. For this reason, the Turkish Drivers and Automobile Federation believes it is extremely important to showcase Ankara’s hospitality.

More than 56,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed to ensure security at the forum, which will be attended by 32 heads of state and nearly 100 ministers. The delegation of the U.S. President alone includes 1,400 people.

Next NATO summit in Albania in doubt

Next NATO summit in Tirana is in doubt due to resistance from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and dissatisfaction among NATO members with Tirana’s low defence spending, Reuters reported.

A special skyscraper is being built in central Tirana for the NATO summit. However, ongoing protests in Albania against a project led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to build a hotel in a protected coastal area may also affect the country’s chances of hosting the future forum.

Dispute in Zagreb over Croatian troops’ participation in France’s Bastille Day parade

A dispute has erupted in Croatia between President Zoran Milanović and the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković over the participation of Croatian troops in France’s national holiday military parade in Paris on July 14, Hina reported.

Defence Minister Ivan Anušić said he had signed a decision on sending members of the armed forces to the event, citing the Defence Act, which grants him the authority to do so.

President Zoran Milanović, who is supreme commander of the armed forces, stated that Croatian soldiers would not take part in the parade on the Champs-Élysées. He cited as reasons France’s absence from the military parade in Zagreb on July 31, 2025, marking the 30th anniversary of the end of Croatia’s War of Independence, as well as Paris’s intention to send EU troops to help maintain a future peace in Ukraine.

Romania’s political crisis deepens

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the second-largest parliamentary force, decided to begin the process of suspending President Nicușor Dan and to launch procedures aimed at trigerring early parliamentary elections, Agerpres reported.

The country is facing a political crisis after the pro-European broad coalition of the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania collapsed at the end of April.

The crisis has halted reforms in the country, threatened access to EU funds, and led to a record depreciation of the Romanian leu.

President Nicușor Dan, who is expected to nominate a prime ministerial candidate, has refused to say when this will happen, digi24.ro. reported.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov