Albanian prime minister is pessimistic about start of negotiations with the EU

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he did not expect the EU summit in late June to pave the way for Albania for start of membership talks. Asked by Politico if any of the EU leaders had signaled that talks could begin soon, Rama replied: "What signals can they give? It's not about them but about Bulgaria again. EU leaders thinks that this should happen and that it should have happened already. But their maneuverability is limited by Bulgaria. Sofia and Skopje have entered a spiral, which is very hard to get out of. If nothing happens in June, we will want to be separated from this couple lost in translation," Rama said.

Rama’s ironic joke create political scandal in North Macedonia

A political scandal has erupted in Skopje over whether the reaction of Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski to a joke made by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was adequate, BTA reported. At the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit in Thessaloniki, Rama called Kovacevski "prime minister of a future Western Bulgaria", which caused smiles among participants. In an interview for TV21, North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said that during the debate at the Thessaloniki summit, Edi Rama was extremely critical of Bulgaria and his words were ironic about the Bulgarian veto. "In fact, he said things we can't say because we have to keep the process (of negotiations) alive," Osmani added.

Turkey wants to lease agricultural land abroad

Turkish authorities have been negotiating with 10 countries, including Ukraine, for the lease of agricultural land, the Hurriyet newspaper reported. Turkey plans to grow crops that are otherwise difficult or impossible to produce in Turkey because of climate factors and other reasons. Negotiations are also under way with South American and African countries. Turkey plans to grow sunflower, corn, sugar cane, pineapple, mango, avocado and more, it was reported.

Greece imports wheat from Bulgaria and Romania

Greece is prepared for reduced grain exports from Ukraine and Russia and will provide sufficient quantities to the population. Authorities in Athens have urged citizens to avoid stockpiling food. There is no danger of a food crisis in Greece, Agriculture Minister Giorgos Georgantas said. Athens has replaced grain imports from Ukraine and Russia with imports from other countries. "Fortunately for us, we border Bulgaria and we are close to Romania, so there are routes for transporting grain both by sea and by road," Georgantas said. He pointed out that the high price of food was a problem for both traders and consumers. The price hike has reached between 36 and 70%. That is why the opposition calls for setting a ceiling on food prices, BNR correspondent in Athens Katya Peeva has reported.

Slovenia removes border fences along border with Croatia

The EU registered a twofold rise in illegal migration through the Western Balkans in May, the European border agency FRONTEX reported. Since the beginning of 2022, 40,675 illegal migrants have entered the EU via the Western Balkans. However, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said his country would remove the wire fence along the border with Croatia. During the migrant crisis in 2015-2016, when more than half a million migrants passed through Slovenia on their way to Italy and Austria, Ljubljana erected about 200km of wire and panel fences along the border with Croatia. The wire fence has not fulfilled its goal of discouraging anyone from trying to cross our border, but it is dangerous and inhumane, Golob said quoted by AFP.

Compiled by: Ivo Ivanov

English: Al. Markov