Albania
Parliament failed to elect a President third time, Parliament Speaker Nikolla met European Parliament Rapporteur Santos, and farmers got the lowest subsidies in the region. Major General Bajram Begaj is the new President elected in the fourth round. Santos stated, “Albania has continued the fundamental reforms regarding the EU, and it is right that the Council agrees to open the delayed negotiations with Albania.” The Food and Agriculture Organization noted that farmers receive 18 times less financial support than other countries.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
BiH Gas Supplier signed an agreement with Gazprom, Serb Presidency member Dodik soon to meet Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and President Putin, and the Republika Srpska (RS) experienced the wave of bomb threats targeting schools. The agreement secures a natural gas supply until January 1, 2023. Dodik would meet Lavrov in Belgrade on June 7 and Putin in Sankt Petersburg on June 17. Besides schools in (RS), the Canton of Sarajevo in the Bosniak-Croat Federation faced the same issue.
Croatia
The European Central Bank gave the green light for euro adoption, EU Parliament member Dubravka Sujica became the European People’s Party (EPP) Vice President, and Prime Minister Plenkovic criticized the German’s Bundestag declaration on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia met the criteria of a 12-month average inflation rate below that of the three best EU performers, plus a margin of 1.5 percentage points. A center-right group, the EPP Group is the largest and oldest parliamentary group. Plenkovic pointed out the influence of the Bundestag’s members of Bosniak origin.
Kosovo
Prime Minister Kurti said there is no plan to form a Serb municipalities community, the US State Department’s 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom noted that incidents targeting religious sites increased by more than 50%, and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) cut off contacts with official Prishtina. Kurti denied the EU’s Von Cramon-Taubadel’s statement that the Government has a community formation proposal. The report noted that “the incidents targeted 56 Muslim, 30 SOC, and one Roman Catholic property.” The SOC cited “an unheard-of violation of the rule of law and religious freedoms” as the reason to stop communication.
Montenegro
President Djukanovic participated in the 17th Global Security Forum in Bratislava, EU envoy Lajcak visited the country, and Prime Minister Abazovic asked the Serbian Government to extradite Svetozar Marovic. Djukanovic expects Montenegro to join the EU by 2024. Lajcak noted that “no other country in the region is in front of Montenegro, which has, however, lost its dynamism, dealing more with itself than with its European path.” Abazovic stated that Marovic’s extradition for financial embezzlement would improve the countries’ bilateral relations.
North Macedonia
Prime Minister Kovacevski sees the EU accession procrastination as the EU’s failure, a Strategic Dialogue was held in Washington D.C., and eight hydropower plants would be revitalized by 2026. Kovacevski stated that “not opening the negotiations will mean reducing the relevance of the EU.” Foreign Minister Osmani and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Donfried affirmed the strong bilateral relationship. Kovacevski announced a project to revitalize Vrutok, Vrben, Raven, Tikves, Caves, Globocica, Kozjak, and Sveta Petka, covering 20% of the country’s total electricity production.
Serbia
The Government secured a favorable gas agreement with Russia, the Government would keep electricity prices at EUR 75 per MWh until the end of August, and Aleksandar Vucic was sworn in as a new President. The agreement would secure $340 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas price. Vucic stated that the EU “must be our commitment and precisely because of trade, investment, but also because we want to belong to that society, we will work on further democratization, strengthening of the independent judiciary, media freedoms.”