Albania
Prime Minister Rama participated in the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, the Regional Cooperation Council’s survey found that 42% of Albanians want to emigrate, and the Government raises salaries for Armed Forces by 30%. Rama expressed disappointment that the Bulgarian veto blocked the country’s EU accession. Minister of the Interior Peleshi stated that the minimum wage would be 400 euros ($420), plus food stamps and other need-based support.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
The EU-Western Balkans Summit failed to grant EU membership candidate status, Russia provided a 1.5 billion euros investment for two gas-fired power plants in the Republika Srpska (RS), and HDZ’s leader Covic criticized official Sarajevo for the EU candidate status failure. Serb Presidency member Dodik threatened that now he would pull out of an agreement to work towards EU membership. The RS would need Bosniak-Croat Federation’s cooperation to build 600-MW power plants. Covic cited the Election Law issue as one of the reasons for the Presidency’s failure to secure the candidate status.
Croatia
President Milanovic criticized the EU’s decision to reject the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) candidate status, net electricity output was down 5.6% year-over-year in April, and Prime Minister Plenkovic announced plans to upgrade the Liquified Natural Gas terminal from the current 2.9 to 6.1 billion cubic meters per year. Milanovic stated, “I am glad that Ukraine got the candidate status. However, even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, BiH was Switzerland for Ukraine.” Net electricity production declined to 1,022 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in April from 1,083 GWh in 2021. Plenkovic stated, “With this, we enable Croatia to become a regional energy hub, useful for our neighbors, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Hungary.”
Kosovo
The Government reached an energy agreement with Serbia, President Osmani met Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, and Shkumbin Ahmetxhekaj is a new public broadcaster’s Director-General. EU Special Representative Lajcak announced that Serbs in the north of Kosovo would start paying for electricity for the first time in 23 years. Osmani expressed gratitude for Turkey’s support of Kosovo’s membership in NATO and the Council of Europe candidacy. Ahmetxhekaj stated, “My vision is that RTK will be a source of factual and verified information, independent of political and special interest group influence, while satisfying our audiences with high-quality, diverse programming.”
Montenegro
Prime Minister Abazovic is soon to visit Belgrade, the net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) doubled year-over-year between January and April, and the jobless rate fell to 20.5% in May. Abazovic stated that he wants better bilateral cooperation, starting with introducing a new ambassador in Serbia. The Central Bank confirmed that FDI doubled to 213.9 million euros in the first four months of 2022, from 120.2 million euros in the prior-year period. The unemployment totaled 21.79% in April.
North Macedonia
The Government refused the French proposal after the Bulgarian Parliament approved lifting the veto on opening EU accession, President Pendarovski supported the Pride Parade in Skopje, and widespread strikes disrupted public services in the country. Prime Minister Kovacevski refused to recognize Bulgarians as a constitutive entity, likely strengthening Bulgarian argument denying Macedonian identity and language. Pendarovski noted, “Everyone has the right to respect, dignity, acceptance without prejudice and equal opportunities for self-realization.” Police associations, health care workers, and municipal employees disrupted services after a parliamentary budget committee refused to accept their demands.
Serbia
The country would produce enough wheat for the entire region, startup-related investments soared more than 600% in 2021, and Defense Minister Stefanovic denied plotting against President Vucic. Agriculture Minister Nedimovic stated that the upcoming harvest would yield 3 million tons of wheat. Minister without Portfolio Nenad Popovic said startups attracted 129 million euros of investments. Former State Secretary Dijana Hrkalovic accused Stefanovic of “an unauthorized insight into the contents of telephone communications of the president and members of his family.”