Balkans

Lukoil Bulgaria abused its dominant position on the wholesale fuel market by pressuring prices, the country’s competition authority, following a complaint by OMV Bulgaria and Insa Oil. Lukoil Bulgaria gradually changed price conditions for the wholesale sale of oil and removed discounts – a pricing policy which, according to the …

Bulgaria has offered to export electricity to Azerbaijan in exchange for expanding gas supplies, acting Economy Minister Nikola Stoyanov announced during his visit to Baku on Sunday (11 September). “With such a scheme – bartering gas for electricity, Bulgaria could receive quantities in the next four to five months, when …

Albanian authorities thwarted a second cyberattack over the weekend after Tirana, backed by the United States with pledges of support and fresh sanctions on Iran, severed all diplomatic ties with Tehran who it blames for the “sabotage”. Meanwhile, hopes of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal continue to fade as leading …

The recent Turkish-Greek row over Twitter might be a taste of things to come Rising tensions between Greece and Turkey over a simple goodwill tweet indicates how alarmingly volatile the relations between two NATO allies are becoming. Allegations that Greece’s Russian-made S-300 air defense batteries locked on Turkish jet fighters …

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday that Athens would try to keep communication channels with Ankara open despite recent “unacceptable” comments from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan accused Greece of occupying demilitarised islands in the Aegean Sea and saying Turkey was ready to “do what is necessary” when …

On August 20, two Russians and a Ukrainian were arrested in Albania as they tried to enter a defunct military factory in the city of Gramsci. According to Albanian authorities, the detainees were trying to film the factory, and one of them, Mikhail Zorin, sprayed a “nerve-paralytic” substance in a …

While Greece shares some demographic characteristics with richer Western European countries, it is also converging in terms of its worst problems with the Balkans. Shrinking, ageing, emigrating: Greece’s demographic woes get worse by the year and its leaders are painfully aware of them. They are a “ticking time bomb,” said …

Latest Turkish-Greek war of words linked to electoral campaigns Turkish Greek bickering continued apace this week with Erdogan repeating his stock threats about descending on Turkey’s foes “unexpectedly in the night,” spurring further overwrought takes on how the two NATO allies might slip into war.

TÜRKIYE-GREECE President Erdoğan accused Athens of militarising what should be demilitarised Eastern Aegean islands, threatened to “do what was necessary”, and warned of a “heavy price” should Greece harass Turkish F-16 fighter jets. The latter warning follows Ankara’s accusation that Greece in August used the Russian-supplied S300 air defence system …

The Turkish and Greek foreign ministers write dueling letters to key international actors as leaders exchange barbs after Erdogan’s one-liner that Turkey “can come suddenly one night.” The volatile waters of the Aegean Sea heated up again as Athens and Ankara sent dueling letters to the United Nations, the European …