Page 10 - bne_newspaper_December_21_2018

The Regions This Week
December 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 10
Southeast Europe
Nearly 2,000 people in Turkey have been sen- tenced to life imprisonment since the failed coup of July 2016, state news agency Anadolu reported. Around 160,000 people have been arrested, de- tained or dismissed from their jobs since the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Romania’s president is seeking to block adop- tion of an emergency decree on pardons and amnesty. Klaus Iohannis said he will attend all government meetings in what is seen as an at- tempt to block the decree — which would benefit top politicians convicted in corruption cases — being adopted.
Albania’s opposition Democratic Party returned to parliament after a lengthy boycott. A senior party official said Democrats are returning to support demands from students who have been protesting for two weeks, and the move doesn’t mean an improvement in relations with the ruling Socialists.
Frontex teams will soon be deployed at the border between Croatia and Bosnia, EU Com- missioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said, as quoted by N1 Zagreb. The deployment comes on the back- ground of increasing numbers of migrants travel- ling westwards, and reports from NGOs of violent treatment of migrants at the border.
The prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece will be nominated for a Nobel peace prize for 2019. Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras sought to put an end to the 27-year long name dispute between the countries by signing a historic agreement.
Kosovo allowed citizens to legalise small arms.
There are an estimated 240,000 to 260,000 light weapons in Kosovo, most left over from the war in 1998-1999.
The European Commission fined state-owned energy firm Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and
its gas infrastructure subsidiary Bulgartransgaz €77.1mn for blocking the access of its competi- tors to key gas infrastructure in Bulgaria, thereby breaching EU antitrust rules.
Croatia’s economy is expected to expand 2.7% in 2019, thanks to the strengthening of government investment due to more intensive use of EU funds, and further growth of private consumption, the Croatian central bank said. This is the same rate as projected for 2018.
Serbia became the 23rd full member of CERN,
the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. Serbian membership in CERN is crucial for the further development of science and improvement of education in the country, the government in Belgrade said.
Slovenia expects another record year for tour- ism, according to Economy Minister Zdravko Po- civalsek, sloveniatimes.com reported. The country expects to record more than 5.6mn tourist arrivals and more than 15.2mn tourist nights by the end
of 2018.
The US State Department cleared Ankara to purchase a package of Patriot missile systems, according to an announcement placed on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). The sale, valued at an estimated $3.5bn according to DefenseNews.com, would cover the procurement of 80 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced and 60 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, as well as associated equipment.
Public road company CNAIR signed a RON272.4mn (€58mn) contract with Tirrena Scavi for the design and construction of the new Timisoara ring road in western Romania. Timisoara is one of the big- gest cities in Romania which in recent years has attracted important investors, thanks to its loca- tion, close to the border with Hungary, and quali- fied work force.