—We received this comment from a subscriber about the geopolitical importance of Kosovo:

The only importance Kosovo has is to America's power projections into the Balkans. There's a reason one of the biggest military bases in Europe, Camp Bondsteel, is located in Kosovo. Nobody else cares about it which is why it remains an irrelevant backwater.

Do you agree with him?

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️UPDATE: Croatia’s Defence Ministry issued a lengthy statement rejecting President Zoran Milanović’s criticism of the Rafale fighter jet deal, stressing that “Croatia and Serbia are not and cannot be in the same category” and that the aircraft were bought as a NATO and EU member via a G2G agreement with France to protect Croatian airspace and meet alliance obligations.

➡️ The ministry underlined that Croatian Rafales are integrated into NATO systems such as IFF and Link 16 with access to the full weapons suite, framed the F3-R to F4 upgrade as routine lifecycle modernisation, defended broader rearmament including HIMARS, CAESAR, Leopard 2A8, Bayraktar drones and new corvettes, and accused Milanović of having cut the defence budget and soldiers’ benefits when he was prime minister while now “systematically” undermining the army and its alliances.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🛢🇭🇺/🇷🇸 UPDATE: Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Belgrade that energy company MOL is interested in acquiring a majority stake in the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), stressing that while details are up to MOL, the company is clearly aiming for majority ownership.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇷🇺 🇲🇩 — Russia calls on its citizens to avoid traveling to Moldova citing "harassment" and "discrimination," per MFA.

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—❗️🇧🇬 NEW: Bulgaria is officially going to have early elections after the third mandate given by the president was turned down by the Ahmed Dugan's party, according to our source in the country.

➡️ This is the 8th election in 5 years.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬 NEW: In Ihtiman, Sofia Region an INCASO (Armoured Car) was assaulted by two armed robbers who stole 80.000 euros, they ran without any kind of transportation.

➡️ During that time one of the guards of the armoured car got free and called the police.

➡️ The police got the robbers while still running on the street near the train station, according to our source in Bulgaria.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇧🇬❌🇲🇰 NEW: A poll in Bulgaria shows only 34.2% of respondents support North Macedonia’s accession to the European Union, while 46.2% are opposed.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸/🇻🇪 WATCH: Dozens of left-wing activists rallied in Belgrade after the US operation that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, with demonstrators denouncing Washington and expressing solidarity with Caracas.

➡️ The protest was organized by the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ), a small extra-parliamentary communist group long engaged in Venezuela solidarity actions in Serbia.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇦🇱/🇺🇸/🇵🇸 NEW: Albanian PM Edi Rama has been invited by US President Donald Trump to join the Gaza “Board of Peace” as a founding member.

➡️ The new body, chaired by Trump, will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza as part of a UN-backed US plan to demilitarize and rebuild the enclave.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇮🇹/🇦🇱 NEW: Italian anti-mafia officials say the ’Ndrangheta remains one of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations in the cocaine market but is now facing growing competition from Albanian trafficking networks across the European Union.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇸🇮/🇬🇱 URGENT: Slovenia’s government has approved the deployment of two Slovenian Armed Forces officers to Greenland to join the planning and implementation of Denmark-led NATO exercise Arctic Endurance, part of a broader European show of support for Denmark and Greenland amid US annexation rhetoric.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇦🇱 WATCH: Opposition protesters gathered outside the PM's office in Tirana, where some participants threw unidentified white powder in front of the building amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇷🇸 ❌ 🇪🇺 NEW: Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik said it is “absurd and cynical” for European elites to lecture on international law and sovereignty, citing NATO’s actions in the former Yugoslavia and current efforts he claims are aimed at stripping Republika Srpska of its powers.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇭🇷❌🇺🇸 NEW: The Croatian government stated that NATO allies must respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, stressing that “Greenland is part of Denmark” in its first official response to renewed US pressure over the island.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇪🇺 🇺🇸 — The EU is preparing up to €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US goods, along with potential restrictions on American companies' access to the EU market.

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‼️🇷🇸/🇽🇰 URGENT: US officials are reportedly preparing a document under which Serbia would recognize Kosovo, to be presented in April or May, according to Western Balkans expert Dusan Janjic, with Serbian politicians said to be already alarmed by the move.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇧🇬 BREAKING: Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announces resignation amid reports he may launch a new political party ahead of snap elections.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️UPDATE: According to our source in Bulgaria, President Rumen Radev has become the first head of state in Bulgaria’s history to step down.

➡️ After nine years in office, Radev said the country’s entry into Schengen and the Eurozone had failed to ease the crisis, accusing the current democratic system of serving oligarchs who have eroded public trust in institutions.

➡️ Some politicians have already welcomed him to the political stage, though Radev did not declare any concrete political ambitions.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English