Turkiye to hold parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14

Parliamentary and presidential elections are to take place in Turkiye on May 14. Nearly 64 million Turkish citizens are eligible to vote. Turkish citizens living abroad started voting two week earlier. According to Turkiye’s Supreme Election Council, there are over 3 million voters abroad, including nearly 7,900 in Bulgaria. The elections will determine who will be in power for the next 5 years and whether President Recep Erdogan will be able to hold on to the helm of governmet after 20 years in power. The most heated race will be between Recep Erdogan and the Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from the Republican People’s Party. Public opinion polls show that the race between the two main opponents will be particularly contested. Some predict that the outcome will be decided in a run-off, in which some observers believe Erdogan would be in a more advantageous position. Some polls predict that the opposition bloc will win the first round, especially after the withdrawal of presidential candidate Muharrem Ince. 

Mitsotakis hopes for better relations with Turkiye if reelected as Greek PM

"Revisionism is deeply ingrained in the DNA of all Turkish parties," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said ahead of the May 21 national elections. Speaking during a televised debate of political opponents, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he had faced an "exceptionally aggressive" Turkiye during his four-year term, AFP reported. Premier Mistotakis pointed to Turkey's so-called "Blue Homeland" strategy of staking out claims to energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Being a frontrunner in opinion polls, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would extend a "hand of friendship" to whoever wins the May 14 elections in Turkiye. However, Premier Mitsotakis said he was under no "delusions" about the need to build strong defensive alliances with other NATO allies such as the United States and France.

Corridor 8 becomes part of the map of the main corridors of the Western Balkans

North Macedonia’s government has authorised the Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski to sign the agreement between Skopje and the EU on the indicative maps of the trans-European transport network in North Macedonia, MIA reports. By signing of this annex, Corridor 8 becomes part of the map of the main corridors of the Western Balkans, within the framework of the expansion of the trans-European transport networks of the European Union. This was made possible after the European Union accepted the request of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Italy and Albania for Corridor 8 to enter the network of main corridors in the region and in Europe, recognizing the connection with Corridor 8 of importance for both North Macedonia and the region and for the European Union. The document will be signed at a meeting in Montenegro in May in the presence of all transport ministers from the region.

Serbs surrender 8,500 weapons in disarmament campaign

Serbians have surrendered 8,500 illegal weapons and parts in the first 3 days of a gun amnesty introduced after two mass shootings, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced, TANJUG reported. “In the past three days, we have collected 8.500 pieces of various weapons, 784 explosive devices and mines, 398,450 pieces of ammunition, an almost incredible number”, Aleksandar Vucic said in a video posted on his Instagram account. After two mass shootings which claimed 17 lives, Serbian authorities called on Serbs to hand over unregistered weapons and explosive devices to the nearest police station, or call police officers to collect them, without legal consequences for their owner. After this deadline, illegal gun possession will be punishable by severe non-parole sentences.

Associated Press photojournalist Vadim Ghirda wins a Pulitzer Prize for covering the war in Ukraine

Associated Press photojournalist Vadim Ghirda won a Pulitzer Prize for covering the war in Ukraine. The Romanian photojournalist spent ten weeks in the country's battered heartland and made some of the most recognisable images of the Russian invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk. Later he was in Kyiv to document people's desperate attempt to leave the country while they still can. A Ukrainian soldier against the backdrop of a bullet-riddled effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Ukrainian serviceman rescuing an ostrich from a zoo. A young woman with a weapon in her hand during combat training for civilians. A statue of Italian poet, writer and philosopher Dante Alighieri (author of the poem Inferno) covered with sandbags.This is what the war in Ukraine looks like through the lens of Vadim Ghirda, who has worked for the Associated Press for 30 years