Albania
Prime Minister Rama met Turkish President Erdogan in Ankara, the recent cyberattack on the Government systems has been linked to Iran, and the Government provided 1 million euros ($1 million) in grant assistance to Ukraine. Rama and Erdogan attended the opening ceremony of the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games hosted in Konya province. American cybersecurity firm Mandiant believes with “moderate confidence” that Iran-linked threat actors used a wiper malware Zeroclear for the attack. The grant from Albania will finance priority expenditures of the Ukraine budget.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Germany would deploy military contingent to EUFOR mission, Serb Presidency Member Dodik criticized Foreign Minister Turkovic for sending demarche to Israel, and Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples Covic met Germany Ambassador Uber. A maximum of 50 personnel would join the peacekeeping mission. Israel Embassy supported the HDZ Covic’s proposals to amend the Electoral Law. Covic reiterated that the urgent reform process of the Electoral Law is a necessary policy.
Croatia
President Milanovic criticized the Western sanctions against Russia, 1,583 new COVID cases and 15 related deaths were registered, and the trade gap expanded 83% year-over-year in H1. Milanovic stated that the sanctions have only harmed Croatia. The trade deficit increased to 8.3 billion euros compared with an interval of 4 billion euros in 2021.
Kosovo
Prime Minister Kurti warned that tensions with Serbs in the North could escalate, Government declared Russian journalist Daria Aslamova persona non grata over alleged espionage, and pop star Dua Lipa was named an honorary ambassador. Kurti stated, “The risk of a new conflict between Kosovo and Serbia is high. It would be irresponsible if I say otherwise, especially after the world saw what Russia did to Ukraine.” The Russian Embassy in Serbia stated that Aslamova is safe in central Serbia after being denied to enter Kosovo. Lipa shared the news with her 85 million Instagram followers.
Montenegro
Eleven dead in a mass shooting, the Government offered to transport Ukrainian goods through the port of Bar, and the jobless rate fell to 19.5% in July. Prime Minister Abazovic declared a three-day mourning period after a gunman killed ten people before a civilian fatally shot him in Cetinje. The unemployment rate stood at 23.59% at the end of June 2021.
North Macedonia
The Government supported the production of “e.GO” electric cars, annual inflation accelerated to 16% in July, and the four SU-25 military aircraft allegedly were donated to Ukraine. Prime Minister Kovacevski stated, “In North Macedonia until now parts for cars of world brands were produced, but now we have the complete production of the final product right here.” The Defense Ministry neither denied nor confirmed this information.
Serbia
President Vucic said that he is not an optimist about the upcoming Brussels talks, that natural gas reserves are at an all-time high, and that the mandate for the new Government’s composition would be known by the end of August. Vucic stated, “I have a right to be realistic; this is my duty.” Vucic said, “Two hundred and sixty-two million cubic meters of gas has been secured in our part of the Banatski Dvor storage facility, and we have purchased an additional 200 million cubic meters that we are storing in Hungary for Serbia’s needs only.” Vucic noted, “By the way, the deadline for the composition of the Government is November 2.”