Page 7 - bne_np_May_19_2017

The Regions This Week
May 19, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 7
Southeast Europe
Albania will postpone its general election by one
week to June 25. The new date was agreed be- tween Prime Minister Edi Rama and the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party Lulzim Ba- sha as part of a deal under which the Democrats will drop their plan to boycott the election.
Tensions between Turkey and Germany in- creased after Berlin decided to grant asylum to several Turkish soldiers allegedly affiliated with exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish govern- ment blamed Gulen for masterminding the failed coup attempt in 2016.
“Yugonostalgia” is still strong among residents of most former Yugoslavian countries, a Gal- lup poll showed. 81% of Serbians think that the breakup of Yugoslavia harmed their country, while the figure is just 10% in Kosovo.
The Montenegrin bureau of Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for Svetozar Marovic, the former President of Serbia and Montenegro, after he ignored an earlier order to go to jail and serve his sentence. Marovic was the first top level official to be sentenced for corrup- tion in Montenegro.
China's Hesteel Group will increase its invest- ments in Serbia. The Chinese group acquired Serbia’s only steel mill Zelezara Smederevo in July 2016.
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has approved the resignation of a deputy minister and requested the dismissal of a senior civil servant after pic- tures surfaced of the two Bulgarian officials giv- ing Nazi salutes. The scandal could threaten the newly-formed ruling coalition between Borissov’s GERB and the nationalist United Patriots.
The OSABiH intelligence agency warned of a plot to assassinate Bosnian Defence Minister Dragan Mektic. The minister has made enemies by his outspoken criticism of mafia activity.
Tensions are reportedly growing within Roma- nia’s ruling coalition as the relationship between Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and Liviu Drag- nea, head of the ruling Social Democratic Party, sour. A rift between the two politicians opened up amid mass protests over attempts to weaken anti- corruption legislation earlier this year.
Nationalist Croatian singer Marko Perkovic has been banned from performing at a concert in Maribor, Slovenia. Perkovic is a known sympathis- er of Croatia’s WW2 pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, and some of his lyrics glorify war crimes.
The European parliament postponed providing €100mn in financial assistance to Moldova until the Venice Commission presents its opinion on the authorities’ plans to change the electoral sys- tem. The planned changes are expected to help the senior ruling Democrat Party and the Socialist Party, which is close to President Igor Dodon.
The parliament in Republika Srpska rejected the proposed sale of the 65% state-owned stake in Bosnia’s Ljubija mine to Israeli Investment Group - Overseas Inc. Global steel maker ArcelorMittal reacted angrily to the planned sale and threat- ened to sue the country.
Turkey’s short-term external debt stock stood at $102bn at the end of March, marking a 4% q/q increase. Turkey is heavily dependent on external borrowing due to its chronic current account deficit.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic will launch talks to appoint new ministers after the first round of local elections on May 21. The gov- ernment lost four ministers after Plenkovic’s HDZ split from its coalition partner Most.
Montenegro’s government hopes to turn to a budget surplus and start reducing its public debt from 2019, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said. The government plans to start drafting new fiscal measures soon.