Most Western Balkan countries have failed to fulfil the first requirement to meet European Union industrial emissions standards despite commitments governments made in 2005, environmental campaigners warned on Tuesday.

Turkey’s interior ministry banned smoking in public places across the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the AP reported. In a statement late Wednesday, the ministry said smoking would be banned in busy streets, bus stops and public squares when necessary.

Hashiм Thaci, who resigned as president of Kosovo last week, on Monday declared that he was not guilty during his first hearing in a war crimes trial at a special court in The Hague, news wires reported.

In the runup to the Berlin Process 2020 Sofia Summit on 10 November, Bulgarian MEP from Renew Europe Group/ Movement for Rights and Freedoms Ilhan Kyuchyuk, ALDE Party Vice-President, organised a vibrant virtual conference named 'Western Balkans beyond 2020: Actions and decisions in times of pandemic'. 

Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci, a guerrilla leader during Kosovo's war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, resigned on Thursday in order to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague, news wires reported.

The new Serbian government will be in power for less than two years, half of its regular term, Aleksandar Vucic, the country's president and the head of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which won a landslide victory in June, said on Tuesday.

Ersin Tatar, prime minister of the breakaway state of North Cyprus, won a presidential election runoff on Sunday with 51.74% of votes, a statement of the electoral board read. His opponent - Mustafa Akinci - the 72-year-old incumbent president, received 48.26% after all votes were counted.

Montenegro’s president on Thursday nominated Zdravko Krivokapic, the leader of a pro-Serb opposition alliance backed by the powerful Serbian Orthodox Church, to form a government, ending three decades of socialist rule, news wires reported.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Greece met on Thursday for the first time since a dispute between the two NATO members over energy exploration and maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish state media reported.

An Economic and Investment Plan that will promote the long-term recovery of the region and foster regional economic integration, was tabled by the Commission on Tuesday. The aim is supporting a green and digital transition in the region, boosting reforms and bringing the six countries closer to the EU Single Market.