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The Regions This Week
April 28, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Southeast Europe
Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev and other MPs from his party were among over 100 people injured when around 200 demonstra- tors forced their way into parliament on April 27. The violence started after a majority group- ing in the parliament led by Zaev’s SDSM elected Talat Xhaferi as speaker after a filibuster by the conservative VMRO-DPMNE designed to stop the SDSM from forming a government ended after nearly a month.
Russia banned wine imports from Montenegro’s state-owned wine producer Plantaze, allegedly for failing to meet safety requirements. Podgorica says the ban was politically motivated, coming shortly before the country’s expected accession to Nato.
A French court decided not to extradite Kosovo’s former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj to Serbia. The decision was celebrated in Kosovo and Albania, but drew an angry response from the Serbian government, which wants to try Ha- radinaj for war crimes.
Police in Turkey arrested 1,000 people across 72 provinces as part of a government crackdown on an alleged secret structure within the coun- try’s police force. The authorities said another 2,200 people were being sought in relation to the investigation into a movement loyal to US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Bosnia’s industrial output growth slowed in March. Production was up just 0.1% y/y, following a 3.3% y/y hike in February, as the performance of the utilities sector worsened.
Croatian nationalists protested against the con- troversial play “Our Violence and Your Violence” outside the Croatian National Theatre in Split. The play depicts Europe’s ineffective response to the refugee crisis.
An advisory working group recommended pur- chasing new Gripen jet fighters from Sweden
for Bulgaria’s air force. The jets are expected to be chosen over used Eurofighters from Italy, or used F-16s from Portugal.
Turkey continued its dramatic fall on the World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders. The watchdog claimed the July 2016 coup attempt “swept aside the last restraints on the government in its war against critical media”.
The share of non-performing loans (NPLs) in Montenegro inched down in February to 10.2% from 10.4% in January, central bank data showed. The NPL ratio stood at 10.3% at end-2016.
Demonstrators gathered in front of Serbian public broadcaster Radio-televizija Srbije (RTS) for two days running. They targeted the broad- caster with the aim of expressing frustration with RTS’ reporting of protests against Prime Minister and President-elect Aleksandar Vucic.
Romanian taxi drivers held an anti-Uber protest outside government buildings. They accused the ride-sharing service of “piracy on the transport market”.
The EU will formally suspend Turkey’s acces- sion talks on membership of the bloc if it adopts the constitutional changes backed in the April 16 referendum, the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur warned. However, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows little sign of making any concessions to Brussels.
A probe was launched into Bulgaria’s state en- ergy regulator following a tip-off received by top officials. The investigation has direct implications for the natural gas price for the final consumer.
Kosovo’s foreign trade deficit rose 11.2% y/y to €233.4mn in March, as both exports and imports increased y/y. Kosovo’s lack of industrial develop- ment keeps its exports at a low level.