Politicians

Athens hosted an art exhibition a couple of months ago at its iconic Zappeion Hall venue where Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was able to express his creative side. Late last year, Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid an official visit to Himare, becoming the first Greek prime minister to visit one of the main ethnic Greek towns in Albania in 30 years.

BELGRADE - Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leader Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday 20,000 pieces of legal and illegal firearms and explosive devices had been surrendered by Serbians in a nationwide campaign aimed at boosting public security.

Speaking to reporters after an SNS Presidency session, Vucic said this was a very serious figure and that the campaign was gaining momentum.

Bulgarian MEP Eva Maydell from GERB and the group of the European People's Party is expected to replace Mariya Gabriel in the European Commission, Politico reported.

Building factories to boost job creation and make France more independent - that's President Emmanuel Macron's ambition for the French economy.

It's a big challenge, as France reels from protracted protests, rising food and energy prices and other fallout from the Ukraine war.

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel has submitted her resignation and it has been accepted by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to a Commission announcement. Earlier, the Commission announced that European Commissioner Gabriel is on unpaid leave.

SMEDEREVO - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday announced elections for "September at the latest".

"You want elections? I will inform the people on May 26, we are going to elections. That means the elections will be held in September at the latest," Vucic told reporters in Smederevo in response to opposition demands for his resignation.

The Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Edi Rama is ahead in most municipalities in the country after Sunday's local elections and has already won three, Kamza, Vora and Elbasan, where the voting took place electronically and the Central Election Commission was able to declare the results a few hours after polls closed.

Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev has called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to congratulate him for the May 14 elections that pledged a majority to Erdoğan-led People's Alliance at the parliament while bringing the presidential race to the second round.

A statement from the president's office informed that Aliyev and Erdoğan spoke over the phone in the early hours of May 15.

Fredi Beleri, the candidate representing the Greek minority, emerged victorious over his opponent Jorgo Goro, who had the backing of the Edi Rama government, in the race for the mayor of Himara in Albania's local elections.

The official results were announced Monday after an earlier interruption in the vote counting process.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters that he will soon step down as leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), reports BGNES. "In a few days, I will no longer be the chairman of a political party. And that's why they (political opponents) lied that it will never happen.