Vucic Defies EU Pressure, Will Attend Moscow’s Victory Day Parade
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed his intention to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9
Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the floods have caused damage worth 0.64% of GDP.
Speaking Thursday in Belgrade at a meeting of international donors, he argued that the sector of energy and agriculture had been hardest hit, adding that the damage estimate could even reach EUR 1 B.
He noted that Serbia would need international assistance for its economic recovery.
Vucic made clear that a total of 31 879 citizens had been forced to flee their homes due to the floods, 1763 facilities had been either destroyed or damaged, and 2260 facilities inundated, not including Obrenovac, which suffered the biggest damage.
Vucic said that a total of 39 municipalities were recovering from the devastation caused by the floods, adding that 30 bridges on categorized roads had been torn down and 50 had been damaged, plus around 200 bridges on municipal and non-categorized roads which had been damaged or destroyed.
He drew attention to the damage incurred to Corridor 10, near Dimitrovgrad and the Bulgarian border, stressing that it would take over EUR 10 M to repair.
Vucic, as cited by the in-Serbia news portal, made clear that the Belgrade-Bar railway was in need of extensive renovation.
Serbia's Prime Minister informed that 75,000-83,000 ha of arable land had been flooded.
He also pointed out that the floods had caused Serbia to buy electricity worth EUR 0.5 – 1 B a day due to the damage to the power supply system.
Serbia declared a state of emergency on May 15 after suffering the heaviest rainfall in over 120 years.
The torrential rains brought a death toll of 27 in Serbia, 17 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 2 in Croatia. The floods destroyed a large number of houses and cut off power and water supplies to thousands of households.
A group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) has raised urgent concerns with the European Commission regarding the ongoing detention of Saudi political activist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi in Bulgaria
Montenegro’s Minister for European Affairs, Majda Gorgević, reaffirmed in an interview with BGNES that Chinese investments do not threaten the country’s EU aspirations
Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev has been invited to speak before the European Parliament in Brussels on April 22
During the "EU Meets the Balkans" forum in Sofia, North Macedonia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Dimitrovski addressed ongoing concerns surrounding his country's EU accession process
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared that the era of a unified West is over, stating that only Europe remains as a bastion of the values traditionally associated with the Western alliance
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos emphasized that the expansion of the European Union remains one of the top priorities of the current European Commission
Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update
Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase