Politicians

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad began talks in Moscow Wednesday.

"Dear Mr President, I am very glad to see you in Moscow. Thank you for accepting our invitation," Putin told Assad at the start of their meeting broadcast by state TV. "We are in constant contact and our relations are developing."

ROME - Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic met with Italian Deputy PM and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini in Rome on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Vesic said that, in the period to come, the two countries would work together on abolishing transit permits.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will meet with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Vucic and Escobar, who is Washington's special Western Balkans envoy, will meet in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic at 3.15 pm, the presidential press office announced.

BELGRADE - Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic has reiterated that the party firmly supported the position of the Serbian National Security Council that Serbia condemned the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity but opposed the introduction of sanctions on Russia.

An international movement of Russophiles will be established on March 14 in Moscow, and the initiative has been headed for many years by Nikolay Malinov, head of the Bulgarian National Movement "Russophiles".

The upper house of the French parliament - the Senate - adopted the controversial pension reform, which caused a wave of protests throughout France and was considered a key measure of Emmanuel Macron's second presidential term, BTA reported.

"An important milestone has been overcome," said French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

During the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Bosilegrad and its surroundings, the leaders of the local Bulgarians and members of the Cultural Information Center were detained and taken by the police. This was the first visit of a Serbian head of state in 97 years, Nova TV reported.

Disputes with Greece can be peacefully resolved through dialogue, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, while expressing his optimism over the sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. 

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali is the winner of this year's NALED Reformist of the Year award.

The award, handed out by the NALED Executive Board, was presented to Mali on Friday at a conference that marked the 15th anniversary of the NALED Grey Book.

NALED handed out the award for the first time since 2019.

The second was Zoran Vukojevic, a former policeman who was working as a security guard at gang leader Spasojevic's house.

The third was Branislav Bezarevic, who worked for the Security Information Agency, BIA, Serbia's national intelligence agency, and was Vukojevic's friend from police school.