Belgrade

Serbian MP Milovan Drecun, who is believed to be close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, on November 22 said that Bulgaria was conducting hybrid attacks in Serbia. Because of that, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Serbian ambassador to Bulgaria for an explanation, BNT reported.

US Ambassador to Serbia Anthony Godfrey says America's goal is to encourage dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as pointing out how much people in the region would benefit from finding a solution to the Kosovo problem.

A horse statue of 16th-century King of Bohemia and Hungary Ferdinand I, is silhouetted by the setting sun at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the city of Oradea in north-west Romania. Photo: EPA-EFE/ZSOLT CZEGLEDI HUNGARY OUT

The exposure of an apparent Russian spy operation in Serbia has raised fresh questions about the sustainability of the Russian-Serbian 'special relationship' as Belgrade pursues further integration with the West.

A Russian diplomat filmed apparently giving money to a Serbian official had a number of "conspiratorial meetings" with Serbian army officials at which cash changed hands, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday, adding that he had asked Russia's envoy to Belgrade one question: "Why?"

"Now, as the meeting at the highest level is approaching, we are used to the emergence of interesting stories a week or a few days ahead of important top officials meetings. And then the time goes by and all of this is being dismissed, and turns out to be a cheap provocation", Zakharova said on a regular press conference, Sputnik reports.

Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, a close ally of President Aleksandar Vucic, plagiarised his PhD thesis, the Professional Ethics Committee of the University of Belgrade ruled on Thursday.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it was confident nothing could hurt Russia's "special partnership" with Serbia after a video surfaced appearing to show a Russian diplomat giving money to an unidentified Serbian official.

Zeljski confirmed to RTS that local security services know the identity of a person called a "high-ranking official with an officer's rank", as well as the subject of the trade, but did not want to talk about it, as it encroaches on "sensitive territory of operational collection of information and data analysis".

Fresh Thinking

North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski cuts a very different figure from Gjorgje Ivanov, his predecessor. Ivanov was often jokingly referred to as a 'ficus', or house plant, due to his passivity. The same cannot be said of Pendarovski.