Balkans

Speaking at a briefing on May 6 after his participation in the EU-Western Balkans Summit, Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that the EU is mobilizing very quickly a package of more than 3.3 billion euros for the health systems of the Western Balkans.

The Western Balkans not only provides China with a convenient foothold inside of Europe but is also in need of infrastructure investment and possesses a well-educated and reasonably priced labor force.

Furthermore, the region's comparatively weaker and looser regulatory policy framework that governs business activity also makes the Western Balkans appealing to Chinese corporations.

Although the European Union is going through a time of crisis, it will not abandon its strategic objectives and closest partners, President Kalus Iohannis said on Wednesday at the summit of leaders of EU member states with representatives of the Western Balkans, which took place in video conferencing system, informs a press release of the Presidential Administration.

President Klaus Iohannis underscored on Wednesday the importance of enhancing the relation with the Western Balkans, showing that Romania supports the accession of these countries to the European Union.

Police patrol in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo:BIRN/Samir Kajosevic

"A criminal complaint has been filed against Cabarkapa and the state prosecutor has stated that he offended Montenegro's reputation in a published post," the police directorate said.

Heads of State or Government of the EU and the Western Balkans will hold a video meeting to discuss the spread of Covid-19 and misinformation. The meeting is not set to set a date for the start of accession talks with Northern Macedonia and Albania, as it was originally intended, if the meeting had taken place in Zagreb.

European Union leaders host a summit with six Balkan counterparts on Wednesday. Here are some facts about the six Balkan aspirants:

Albania

The European Union agreed in March that Albania, already a member of NATO, can formally start membership negotiations. Once underway, possibly later in 2020, they could still take many years.

Bosnia

Ship Budva in port of Bar, Montenegro.Photo:Barska plovidba

On May 2, port of Hamburg police found 500 kilos of cocaine hidden in the cargo area, while one of the crew members was arrested. German police arrested Mladen Radulovic from the Montenegrin coastal town of Bar, while other 22 were questioned.

The Vienna office of the Reporters Without Borders announced that the BIRN Network has been awarded for its courageous investigative journalism in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and for its dedication to the fight for human rights, democracy and justice for the victims of war crimes.

With the first section of the Bar-Boljare highway through Montenegro due to open at the end of 2020, funding for the rest of the Chinese-built road is looking doubtful due to the country's mounting debts and the global economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, analysts warn.