—❗️🇲🇩 NEW: Moldova has launched the procedure to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

➡️ The government expects the legal process to be wrapped up by mid-February, after which parliament will take the final decision, as Chisinau continues to align its foreign and economic policy with its European integration course.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—UPDATE: The European Commission says it is closely monitoring the situation and is in contact with Balkan partners, noting that Schengen rules allow some flexibility for cross-border workers while leaving decisions on border checks to individual EU member states.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇪🇸 NEW: Albanian PM Edi Rama has sent a message of condolence to Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez following the deadly train accident in Adamuz, expressing “profound sadness” over the tragedy.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🤝🇷🇸 /🇺🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Milorad Dodik says relations between Republika Srpska and the United States have “significantly improved,” announcing he was invited by two US congressmen to visit Washington on 6–7 February and will also soon travel to Israel for meetings with its leadership, as president of the ruling party in Republika Srpska.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—A subscriber shared his opinion about the latest news coming from Cyprus:

It's empty air. It's the same position they've had for decades, there's nothing new about it. The terms they keep demanding are insane which is why nothing ever comes of them. And if something does happen, the Turkish Government steps in and starts sabotaging everything. The closest Cyprus ever got to reunification was when the US-UK-EU-UN conspired together to force a unilateral surrender to the Turkish Occupation in 2004, in the so-called illegal Annan Plan that was so bad, it was violating UN Charter. And that's the fundamental issue; the Occupation is illegitimate, the settlers are illegal, but the Turkish Cypriot Administration cannot and does not want to deport them, let alone give back any land. And forget reparations from Turkey; in 2004, it was the Cypriot Greeks that were going to pay reparations to themselves! So imagine now. And that's just one part of the insanity that was the 2004 "Plan". You can look up the text to see more of the insanity that they agreed to, in order to satiate Turkish demands, it's all public.

Nothing will come of these talks, because nothing ever comes of these talks, because the positions the Turks put forth are insane and delusional and when they're not, the Turkish Government makes them insane and delusional, because they don't want a solution that's not unconditional surrender. Which is why the Cyprus Question will only be resolved the way the Cyprus Issue was started; with blood and iron.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇪🇺/🇷🇸 NEW: European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said she met Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade to discuss reforms needed for Serbia to remain on its EU path and to advance the EU’s Growth Plan for the country.

➡️ She said they agreed to intensify joint work on energy security, reduce dependencies, and cooperate “towards an independent Europe”.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇺🇸/🇷🇸 NEW: US special envoy Richard Grenell said Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic “should follow the US path – not the European path,” directly challenging EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who had insisted that “Serbia needs to stay firmly on its European path.”

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬 NEW: Outgoing PM Rosen Zhelyazkov signed Bulgaria’s accession to Donald Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace” at a ceremony in Davos, according to our source in Bulgaria.

➡️ The timing of Trump’s letter to Radev has itself become a flashpoint: the outgoing foreign minister claims the invitation was sent earlier and made public late, suggesting a deliberate delay by the presidency, while Radev’s office insists the document was formally received on January 20 and rejects any allegation that it was being concealed.

➡️ Sofia will now submit a draft ratification law to the National Assembly, while opposition leaders and critics warn the step isolates Bulgaria within the EU, note that only a handful of European states such as Hungary have joined, and point to reports that DPS–New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski, still under US Magnitsky sanctions, pushed hard behind the scenes for the country to enter the Board.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬/🇪🇺 NEW: The EU is a living organism that must adapt to contemporary realities, and the time has come to decide whether all 27 member states still want to move at the same speed, Bulgarian MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe) told BTA.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇺🇸 WATCH: Albanian PM Edi Rama held a private dinner in the coastal city of Vlora with Ivanka Trump, where guests were treated to a traditional Albanian polyphonic music performance.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱/🇽🇰 NEW: Albanian PM Edi Rama has voiced support for Vjosa Osmani to serve another term as Kosovo’s president, praising her international role and describing recent backing from the United States as a sign of the personal respect she has earned.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🤝🇽🇰/🇺🇸 WATCH: Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani held a lengthy and amicable conversation with US President Donald Trump in Davos before signing the Charter of the Board of Peace as a founding member state on behalf of the Republic of Kosovo.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—NOTE: The US-led “Board of Peace” has been formally established as an international organization, with Kosovo among its founding members, as President Vjosa Osmani signed the charter at a ceremony in Davos.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸 NEW: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he is not sure whether Serbia will join US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace, warning that the initiative has further “divided” Europe as governments split over whether to participate in the new peace forum.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇹🇷🤝🇺🇸🇺🇳🕊 — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan signs Board of Peace Charter with President Trump at Davos.

🔗 Clash Report (@clashreport)

🇧🇬🌐🤝🇺🇸🇺🇳 — High Representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov at the Board of Peace:

"Who would've thought, two years ago, that we would be sitting here, with this group of countries... giving the people of Gaza a new chance?... For too long, Gazans, Palestinians, and Israelis have lived with conflict, with death, with destruction. Now, the page turns."

🔗 Open Source Intel (@Osint613)

—🤝🇧🇬/🇵🇰 NEW: Bulgaria’s national news agency BTA has signed a news exchange agreement with Pakistan’s Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), enabling the two state agencies to share news content between Sofia and Islamabad on a regular basis.

➡️ The deal aims to expand bilateral media cooperation and improve coverage of political, economic and cultural developments in both countries for their respective audiences.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English