Nadja Lovadinov

Indeed, the journey towards 🇪🇺 membership has, for the six Western Balkan states, turned into a decades-long walk through the desert.

Since 2022, many have spoken of new momentum. And while, yes, the #EU27 have taken more decisions and done so more quickly.

bart simpson is sitting at a podium in a room with a man in a hat standing next to him . Alt: bart simpson is sitting at a podium in a room with a man in a hat endlessly coming in and out of the room

Les gouvernements sous Macron

Republika Srpska: Milorad Dodik steps aside – DW – 09/30/2025 After dominating politics in Republika Srpska for 27 years, Milorad Dodik is stepping down in the face of national court rulings and international pressure, paving the way for a presidential election ...

🇧🇦 After months of secessionist bluster, former RS President Milorad Dodik has stepped aside ahead of the RS presidential elections, pressed by international, domestic, and party pressure.

He leaves behind a crippling RS economy and a patronage network choking the entity.

www.dw.com/en/republika...

Article naming Tony Blair to be with Trump in the “Board of Peace”

Not sure I could come up with three people I would trust less with the lives of Palestinians than Trump, Netanyahu and Blair

early bird catches the worm 🪱

YouTube video by TLDR News EU Pro-EU Parties Win Moldova’s Election: What Next?

🇲🇩 BIG win for Moldova’s ruling pro-EU party following yesterday's election -> majority intact + EU path 🇪🇺 reaffirmed.

However, the defeated pro-Russian bloc has cried foul play and is disputing the result

🎥 Full explainer below 👇
youtu.be/Fl3gno2cEcU

#Moldova #Europe #EU

🇵🇸 VIDEO: Gaza City residents divided as Western powers recognise State of Palestine

Residents of Gaza City, the target of a major Israeli offensive, offer mixed opinions after a fresh slate of Western nations recognised the State of Palestine.

Ah yes, the famous Albania-Azerbaijani war of 19989 🤦‍♀️

Romania’s far-right former presidential candidate charged with coup plot Călin Georgescu tried to organize a revolt in Bucharest, prosecutors allege.

Romanian prosecutors today charged Călin Georgescu — who rose from obscurity to win the first round of a presidential election before being barred from running — with planning a violent coup.

YouTube video by TLDR News EU Why Tensions are Rising on the Polish Border

youtu.be/yw0rqPmehZs

🇧🇾🇷🇺With Belarus and Russia conducting their joint Zapad 2025 military drill, tensions surged this week

🇵🇱Poland closed its border with Belarus and shot down a swarm of Russian drones in its airspace, prompting the invocation of NATO’s Article 4 and the deployment of 40,000 troops to the border🪖

🇺🇸🥔 John Cole said that the US intends to return the American embassy to Minsk.

"If we come to the right decisions in our discussions on the remaining people who are being held (prisoners), we can achieve a lot on the path to normalization."

All eyes on the Global Sumud Flotilla ❤️

Spain imposes permanent weapons embargo on Israel PM Pedro Sánchez announces that ships transporting fuel and planes carrying defense materiel to the country will be banned from Spanish ports and airspace.

Spain has imposed a permanent ban on the sale of weapons and ammunition to Israel as part of a package of measures aimed at "stopping the genocide" in Gaza.

Hopefully we'll have videos on both soon! 🇮🇩🇱🇧

‘Pivotal moment’ for Lebanon as army presents plan to disarm Hezbollah amid growing US pressure | CNN Lebanon’s army on Friday presented to the government a plan to disarm Hezbollah, the country’s most formidable military force, in an unprecedented move that risks sparking internal conflict.

Some pretty major stuff unfolding in Lebanon as the government prepares to approve the military's plans to disarm non-state actors, namely Hezbollah.

Civil war impending?🇱🇧

edition.cnn.com/2025/09/05/m...

Enemy of Justice? Secrecy in Domestic War Crimes Trials in Serbia Secrecy is an essential element in war crimes trials, as it protects vulnerable individuals and sensitive information, ensuring trials can proceed effectively. However, secrecy often conflicts with...

NEW ARTICLE📢 We show how redactions in war crimes judgements obstruct transparency, prevent reckoning with past violence & highlight limits of digital data for quant analysis in TJ w/ @lanabi.bsky.social T.W.Waters @erc.europa.eu @lse-ei.bsky.social @journalgenocide.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/2h2b6x79

Orbán’s favorite Brussels think tank received millions from Budapest, new figures reveal MCC Brussels has received more than €6 million in funding to influence debate on public policy.

🇪🇺💥The EU’s top hard-right pressure group got millions from sources tied to Hungary’s populist PM Viktor Orbán, new filings show. MCC Brussels’ transparency register confirms the think tank received over €6M last year.

While Lukashenko initially encouraged exports to Russia, he imposed an export ban earlier this year, as Belarus struggled to feed its own people, let alone its Russian allies.

This highlights the growing tension between political loyalty to Moscow and the harsh economic realities at home.

Price controls made things worse. In 2022, Lukashenko capped food prices, including potatoes.🥔

Farmers cut production as costs rose faster than prices, and by 2024, harvests were down 25%👨‍🌾

Farmers also redirected supplies to Russia, where prices are roughly double amid Moscow’s own potato shortage

Belarus' own labor shortages have added to the pressure🧑‍🏭👷‍♀️👩‍💼

Estimates vary, but around tens of thousands of young people left after 2020 to Lithuanian and Poland, and more moved to Russia to fill war-related jobs.

Wage hikes eased some pain for workers, but drove costs and inflation higher📈🪙

But as Russia’s economy cools down under sanctions and mounting war costs, Belarus is sinking with it.📉

This year, Belarus' exports of machinery, lumber, and consumer goods to Russia fell over 70%. GDP growth has slowed to just 2.1%, the budget deficit is widening, and inflation continues to climb.

Cut off from the West, Belarus turned almost entirely to Russia🇷🇺

Cheap energy⚡ + credit🏦 from Moscow propped things up. Exports to Russia jumped 50% in 2022.

Belarus' economy soon became completely dependent on Moscow. When Russia boomed post-2022, Belarus bounced back too (+3.9% growth in 2023)📈

Since the fraudulent 2020 election, Western sanctions have hit key Belarusian exports (oil🛢️, potash🪨, and fertilizers🪴).

Sanctions expanded after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. These hit hard; Belarus' GDP shrank 4.7% in 2022, exports fell 20%, and the IT sector hollowed out as firms fled abroad.

🇧🇾 Belarus’ economy is quickly unraveling: facing slowing growth, sanctions, inflation, and now even a potato crisis in the country once known as Europe’s ‘potato basket.’🥔

Here’s how it happened (a thread)🧵👇

A new poll shows more than half of French want Bayrou out and #Macron to resign:

🗳️63% say they are in favour of new elections

🚪68% say that if the vote fails Macron should step down

📝50% approve of Mélenchon's call for Macron to resign

Read the full report here ➡️ www.ifop.com/publication/...

YouTube video by TLDR Podcasts Why the US Economy is Starting to Look Pretty Turkish

In today’s WLLB, French President Emmanuel Macron moves down ⬇️🇫🇷 after his PM called a confidence vote (Sept 8) which he will likely lose.

Opposition leaders have warned they’ll push for Macron’s impeachment next👩‍⚖️

(jump to 40.05 to listen to the full discussion) youtu.be/QnDwt43eQIM

French, German, Polish leaders to visit Moldova amid fears of Russian election interference The visit comes amid what the Moldovan presidency described as Russia ramping up its "interference activities ahead of the high-stakes elections" scheduled for September.

⚡️French, German, Polish leaders to visit Moldova amid fears of Russian election interference.

The visit comes amid what the Moldovan presidency described as Russia ramping up its "interference activities ahead of the high-stakes elections" scheduled for September.

This breakthrough clears the way for the formation of a new government and ends a political stalemate which:

⚖️👩‍⚖️ Froze 111 draft laws and municipal budgets

🇪🇺💶 Suspended €600M in EU funding

💰🪙 €800,000 spent on MP salaries for less than 1.5 days of work (as of July 21, 2025)

🇽🇰 Six months since parliamentary elections, and following over 50 failed attempts, Kosovo’s parliament has finally elected a new speaker🗳️

Lawmakers chose Dimal Basha from acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje party.

🟢 Basha recieved 73 votes in favor in the 120-seat house.