Compiled by Hristo Voynov and Eva Jovanova
1.The US Special Counsel investigating Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential elections has indicted 13 Russian citizens for a variety of charges regarding ‘defrauding the US’. All 13 are said to be involved with the notorious ‘Internet Research Agency’ which is considered to be the Kremlin’s internet propaganda wing. They are accused of trying to influence the US elections as unregistered foreign agents by promoting Donald Trump, as well as attempting to peel progressive votes away from Hillary Clinton by promoting third-party candidates Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein. Russia has dismissed these as part of an anti-Russia witch-hunt. All of the individuals indicted are believed to be in Russia and so these charges present no pressing danger of their arrest.
2. Serbia welcomed Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in Belgrade this Wednesday for a two-day visit. Even before the beginning of the visit, Mr. Lavrov gave a statement that the West pressures the Balkans of choosing sides – either the EU or Russia. Yesterday, Mr. Lavrov vowed to support Serbia’s EU ambition but claimed that Moscow would always be there to help Serbia preserve its traditional values, such as Orthodox Christianity. The main obstacles on Serbia’s EU path, however, is not its ties to Russia, but its lack of media freedoms, rule of law and breaches in human rights. Unlike Montenegro which joined in 2017 and Macedonia which is striving for membership, Serbia has not shown any aspirations to join the NATO, which makes the country militarily neutral.
3. Poland’s new tension with Israel and Ukraine escalates again. The negative developments were that the Polish embassy in Israel was vandalized, with swastikas and slurs being spray painted on the property following Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki claiming that certain Jews collaborated with the Nazis during the holocaust. This coming at a time when reported cases of anti-Semitism in Poland went significantly down in 2016. However, in respect to Ukraine, both countries PMs and Deputy PMs held discussions in regards to historical issues of ethnic cleansing during WWII. Ukraine saw a valuable ally in Poland during its efforts to get closer to the EU. This presents an issue that will probably require a solution if it wants Poland to continue its support.
4. Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev visited his German counterpart Angela Merkel in Berlin this Wednesday. The main purpose of Mr. Zaev’s visit was to ensure German support during the name talks. Kanzlerin Merkel praised Macedonia’s efforts to resolve the name dispute and emphasized that this is the first time in ten years that one can be optimistic about finding a solution. Also, in a joint press conference, Merkel praised Macedonia judicial reforms and steps to improve transparency, as these are crucial for EU membership. The name dispute with Greece has landlocked Macedonia for nine years, as the first time the country received a positive recommendation to open negotiations with the EU was in 2009, after four years of candidacy.
5. The Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó claimed that his Luxembourg counterpart “hates Hungary” and wants to introduce the ‘Soros plan’ to Europe. This follows his comments that the EU should trigger Article 7 against Hungary over what he sees as an emerging dictatorship led by Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. This is likely to further ties between Poland and Hungary as the only member of the EU to have Article 7 triggered against it. This is visible by the resolution passed by Hungarian Parliament to express solidarity with Poland in its legal battles with the EU.
6. The US Embassy in Montenegro was hit by a grenade attack at 12.30am today. The attacker committed suicide by a hand grenade, according to the Government of Montenegro twitter account. Except for the attacker, nobody was injured at the embassy. Later today, the police investigation identified the attacker to be a 42-year old Serbian-born citizen living in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. However, the motives of the attack remain unknown. The USA started diplomatic ties with Montenegro right after its split from Serbia in 2006.
7. The attempt to form a government in Czechia continues in its fourth month. The most important development has been STAN’s (Mayors and Independents party) decision to cooperate with ANO, the party led by PM Andrej Babis with the most seats but short of a majority. This change in policy is said to be an attempt to prevent the far right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Communists (KSCM) parties from gaining power. The Social Democrats made a similar decision, but are insisting that, as a condition of their support, Babis not be nominated as PM because of his criminal history. ANO deems this to be a non-starter and prefers to rule as a minority government with ‘expert ministers’ nominated by opposition parties. There is no indication that this problem will be solved anytime soon.
8. Albania President Ilir Meta refused to authorize further talks on resolving the sea border dispute with Greece this Tuesday. He stated that the purpose of the negotiations was not clearly defined. After two years of negotiations, in 2009 Albania signed an agreement with Greece delineating the sea border, which was annulled by the Albanian Constitutional Court a year later. New negotiations on the delineation of the sea border and on other unresolved issues between the two countries were re-opened last year.
9. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a bill regarding the territorial reintegration of Donbas into Ukraine. The major ramification of this bill is that it gives a greater ability for the Ukrainian armed forces to act within Ukraine, which was previously limited by defining the actions as an ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation’. Poroshenko claimed that this won’t complicate the Minsk Peace Agreement, though this remains to be seen as the new law redefines Russia as an aggressor, as well as laying the groundwork for taking back Donbas by force as opposed to by diplomacy.
10. Bulgaria enters history with Mariana Kotzeva, the first woman to be appointed the head of Eurostat. Kotzeva holds a PhD in Statistics and demographics and has a very long experience in the field. She was the acting Director-General of Eurostat since 1 January 2017, after being a Deputy Director-General since 2014. She joined Eurostat as a special advisor in 2012 and before that she was the head of the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute. Kotzeva is not only the first Bulgarian to become a Director-General within the European Commission but is also the first woman to head Eurostat.
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