—🇦🇱 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

—❗️🛢🇭🇺/🇷🇺/🇷🇸 NEW: Hungary’s MOL and Russia’s Gazprom have agreed on the basic terms for the sale of their stake in Serbian oil company NIS, with the deal allowing the Serbian state to increase its ownership share by 5%.

➡️ The agreement, which still requires U.S. approval due to sanctions-related oversight, is expected to reshape NIS’s ownership structure while keeping Serbia’s Pancevo refinery under regional strategic control.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

⚡️🏳️🇹🇷🇨🇾 Chairwoman of TRNC's ruling party RTP, Sila Incirli , said the current administration in Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state "does not want a two-state solution on the island," adding that there were no disagreements with Turkey on this issue.

This interesting statement came following the decisive win of opposition party RTP in October elections, giving hopes to Cypriots and the international community that the unification of the island may be on the agenda again soon.

Incirli shared CTP's framework in her statement:

- From this point on, it’s impossible for it not to be two-community. People are saying, ‘How will that work? Will you live together with the Greeks?’ No, we will live in the north, and they will live in the south.

- It will be a two-community system. Who are they? The Turkish Cypriot community, the Greek Cypriot community. Each constituent state will handle its own health and education affairs. The communities will work on their own security, build its roads, etc., just like the current structure.

- There will also be a partnership administration, like a higher administration. That will provide international representation.

- There will be political equality, meaning they will govern the state together. There will be effective participation, and rotating presidency. This is what we understand by political equality. United Nations Security Council Resolution 716 also confirms this. No decision will pass without the approval of the Turkish Cypriots.

Incirli said the Greek-Cypriot side does not have any objections on the matter, as the framework was created following UNSC decisions. She added that currently Turkey and TRNC are working closely on this framework, indicating that there is no political objection from Turkey. The focus is on making the most comprehensive plan possible.

Ultimately, TRNC's ruling party is working on a plan that would create a heavily decentralized Cypriot federation, where two autonomous states are united under a smaller higher administration. It seems that Turkey is not objecting the unification of Cyprus, while TRNC meets with both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish officials for a final, lasting solution. Once again, after two decades, all parties are working together for the unification.

@wfwitness

—🇷🇸/🇨🇭 Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Davos:

This is my 12th time in Davos. I have never seen so many people. People are not applauding anyone. People are here because they are concerned about their future. Company representatives, state leaders, prime ministers, members of governments, whoever. And nobody's jubilant, nobody's laughing, nobody's smiling, because people don't know what tomorrow will bring to our countries.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—❗️🇲🇩 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