Politicians

From today, the English name of Turkey will be written as Turkiye. This was stated by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

In a statement to the Anatolian Agency Dujarric said the organization had received a letter from the Turkish Foreign Minister regarding a change in the country's name, and the change takes effect on the day the letter is received.

Ljubljana – Ivan Simič, the director general of the Tax Administration, stepped down on Wednesday, announcing his decision just minutes after the new government was sworn in. Simič, a staunch supporter of the Janez Janša government, was named to the post in acting capacity in May 2021 before getting a full five-year term in November the same year.

Ljubljana – The opposition has presented a critical take on some ministerial candidates in parliament on Wednesday while expressing fears about measures it sees as reminiscent of the socialist era.

Presenting the Democrat (SDS) deputy group’s position, Anže Logar, the outgoing foreign minister, noted that Robert Golob wanted to form a government quickly.

Turkey will play an important role in preventing the world food crisis if the talks for the export of Ukraine's agricultural products yield results, the presidential spokesperson has said.

The disinformation bill consists of an ambitious 40 clauses that cover a variety of topics, from internet regulations to press law. Primarily it introduces new restrictions targeting the free circulation of information. 

In short, it's an attempt to silence any voice that does not resonate with the press releases of the presidential palace. 

Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt announced that Norway had officially changed its name (in Norwegian) for Belarus. Authorities in Oslo will now call the country "Belarus" and will not use the hitherto adopted name for the country Hviterussland, which literally means "White Russia".

The news was reported in the Norwegian media.

The director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, SIS, Alexandru Esaulenco, resigned on Monday amid the detaining scandal regarding the former pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, for corruption and high treason to Russia.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic denied that Sunday's deal with Russia over gas prices had any connection with its refusal to impose sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

"There is no sign of equality" between the favourable gas price Serbia agreed with Russia and the fact that Serbia has not sanctioned Russia, she said on Sunday.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday he had a very good telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, with whom he agreed on an extremely favourable gas price for Serbia.

They called on him for serious direct negotiations with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Putin told the two leaders that the delivery of weapons to Ukraine was dangerous, warning of "the risks of further destabilization of the situation and worsening of the humanitarian crisis," the Kremlin said.