Balkan developmentsZoran Milanović less than 1% short of being re-elected as president
Croatia's incumbent President Zoran Milanović, the candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Party, won the first round of the country's presidential election on 29 December with 49.09% of the vote. The incumbent president, Zoran Milanovic, won by less than one percentage point. He faces a second round on 12 January against independent candidate Dragan Primorac, who is backed by the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union. Primorac won 19.35% of the vote in a 46.03% turnout. There were 8 candidates in the first round. Croatian media described Zoran Milanović's result as a triumph, comparing it to former president Stipe Mesic's victory in 2005, reports BTA. Analysts say there is little chance of the second round result being overturned.
Romania freezes civil servants' salaries and benefits for 2025
Salaries for public sector employees in Romania, as well as bonuses, allowances and pensions, will remain frozen at the November 2024 level throughout 2025, agerpres.ro reports. Overtime will not be paid, but will be compensated with time off. About 5.5 million people work in the country, of which 1.3 million are public sector employees, according to Digi24. Meanwhile, Romania has adopted the European minimum wage of €822 per month from January 2025, which will apply to more than 1.8 million public and private sector employees. The government aims to keep the budget deficit within 7% of the country's GDP, according to Euronews.
Ankara to invest billions in Kurdish areas in search for peace with PKK
$14 billion regional development plan that aims to reduce the economic gap between its mainly Kurdish southeast region and the rest of the country. The announcement comes amid increased hopes for an end to a decades-long insurgency waged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeast Turkiye as well as the advent of a new leadership in neighbouring Syria with cordial ties to Ankara, Reuters reports. The eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkiye have long lagged behind other regions of the country in most economic indicators including gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, partly as a result of the insurgency. Turkish Industry Minister Fatih Kacir told reporters in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa that the government would spend a total 496.2 billion lira ($14.15 billion) on 198 projects across the region in the period to 2028.
Under Western pressure, Serbian List allowed to take part in Kosovo elections
Kosovo's Central Election Commission (CEC) has decided to allow the largest Kosovo Serb party, the Serbian List (Srpska Lista), to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for 9 February, reports kosovapress.com. The decision comes after Kosovo's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the nationalist Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party, which sought to uphold the CEC's earlier ban on the Serbian List. On 23 December, the CEC banned the Serbian List from participating, citing concerns about the party's nationalist rhetoric and close alignment with Belgrade.
Pristina's Western allies criticised the CEC's decision, stressing the importance of inclusive elections to uphold democratic standards. The Supreme Court subsequently rejected Vetevendosje's arguments that the Serbian List should be excluded because it does not recognise Kosovo's independence and continues to refer to the region as the Serbian autonomous province of "Kosovo and Metohija".
Athens adopts national strategy to prevent internet addiction among children
Internet addiction is a problem we all see, but so far we have not been able to come up with a policy to tackle it, said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He presented a national strategy to protect minors, ANA-MPA reported. On Monday, Greece launched a dedicated website, parco.gov.gr, which provides user-friendly guides and instructions on parental controls. According to the prime minister, outright bans are unlikely to be effective. He said parents and children need to discuss the issue, the state needs to review its regulatory role and social media companies need to be held accountable as their algorithms are designed to maximise the amount of time people spend looking at screens. In the spring, the state will launch the Kids Wallet app, which will act as a parental control and age verification system. Mitsotakis hopes the app will be used across the EU.
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