Southeastern Europe

Athens – Prime Minister Janez Janša presented the priorities of the upcoming Slovenian EU presidency at the Delphi Economic Forum in Athens on Monday before meeting his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas. He highlighted resilience to health crises and cyber attacks, and the European way of life.

The migrant-smuggling business in Western Balkan countries is worth at least 50 million euros a year, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime NGO said in a report published on Monday.

Commenting on the infamous "non-paper", the one that allegedly originated from the Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the FT states that mere defending the inviolability of borders in the Western Balkans is far from sufficient when it comes to the West's policy towards that region.

The latest discussions about territorial reorganization in the Balkans have shaken the region, once again underlining its deep ethnic and political divisions and unresolved tensions.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor rejected “naive and dangerous” ideas of redrawing borders in the Western Balkans as he addressed reporters on Friday in response to a non-paper floating the idea, arguing the EU’s accelerated enlargement to the region would best to silence such ideas.

Ljubljana – Slovenian PM Janez Janša rang up Šefik Džaferović, the Bosniak member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina presidency, on Friday to explain that there is no non-paper containing border changes or efforts to undermine Bosnia-Herzegovina’s territorial integrity that could be linked with the Slovenian government.

The Nazi invasion of the Balkans

Greece cannot allow a "stability vacuum" in the Western Balkans that could "easily be filled by other non-European forces supporting extremism and revisionism or aspiring to revive empires that belong to the past" and continues to support their accession to the European Union, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Thursday, following a meeting in Athens with his North Macedonia counterpa

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias will meet with his North Macedonia counterpart Bujar Osmani in Athens on Thursday.

Talks are expected to focus on the western Balkan country's EU accession prospects, while strategies for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic will also be discussed, a statement from the Greek ministry said.

The principle, according to which the reforms pave the way to EU membership is no longer in force for the countries of the Western Balkans, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an extensive analysis cited by Deutsche Welle and BTA.