Ansa news

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 18 - "Let us emphasise the historical ties, not only of the Romance language" spoken in Romania, where "the Emperor Trajan is mentioned in the national anthem," said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the sidelines of the first conference on Italian-speaking countries, alongside his Romanian counterpart Oana Toiu. "There is a historical bond between our countries, which has been strengthened by positive collaboration," as well as "because of our shared interest in defending…

(ANSA) - CHISINAU, NOV 18 - The 2025 edition of the Award for High Merit in Investigative Journalism, sponsored by the Central European Initiative (CEI) and South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), confirms the essential value of investigative journalism in bringing to light human rights violations, social discrimination, corruption, gender inequality and environmental issues. In the "Professional Journalists" section, the prize was awarded ex aequo to Bulgarian journalist Bogdana Lazarova…

(ANSA) - CHISINAU, NOV 18 - "Our goal is 2028: by the end of 2028 to be ready and able to declare that we can close all 6 chapters. We have not worked on the chapters yet but we are ready for Chapter 1 and two others." This was announced by Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu on the sidelines of the 19th South East Europe Media Forum organized by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Central European Initiative (Cei/Ince) and South East Europe Media Organization (Seemo). "We are waiting for political decisions,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 17 - Alice and Ellen Kessler, twins, have died, according to dpa. They were both 89 years old and died in Gruenwald, near Munich. Police are said to have intervened, but no further details have been provided. According to the German newspaper Bild, twins Ellen and Alice Kessler chose assisted suicide, which is legal in Germany under certain conditions. The police were reportedly informed today, after both women had died. When they arrived, they could only confirm the death…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 17 - "Ukraine has a significant financial deficit. According to preliminary IMF estimates, Ukraine will still have a sizable deficit that cannot be closed without more funding, even if the war ends by the end of 2026 and all of the promised aid is taken into account." In her letter to the 27 about the Reparation Loans to Kiev and the three options the Commission had, including using Russian assets, Ursula von der Leyen stated as much. Von der Leyen states in the letter, which…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 17 - On X, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that intelligence services believe the Sunday accident on the Polish railway between Warsaw and Lublin was deliberate sabotage. "Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario was confirmed. Sabotage occurred on the Warsaw-Lublin line (in the village of Mika). An explosive device exploded, destroying the railway tracks. On-site operations include intelligence services and the prosecutor's office. Damage was also discovered along…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, NOV 17 - The Central European Initiative's (CEI) Secretary General, Franco Dal Mas, will visit Ukraine in the coming days, the organisation announced today. During the mission, Dal Mas will meet with Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, and the Italian Ambassador to Kyiv, Carlo Formosa, as well as attend an international food security conference on November 19. According to CEI, the visit is part of the organization's commitment to supporting Ukraine on its path to resilience,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 17 - The Czech Republic is marking the 37th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew the communist regime in 1989, with a series of events, commemorations, concerts, and rallies in the capital and other parts of the country. This time, the celebrations will be centred on Narodni Street in Prague, where the first demonstrations that led to the fall of the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia occurred on November 17, 1989. Today's visit to the square will…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 17 - Tirana has met Prime Minister Edi Rama's goal of opening all accession negotiations by 2025. During the seventh EU-Albania intergovernmental conference in Brussels, the fifth of six negotiating clusters, covering agriculture and fisheries, food security, and cohesion policies, was launched. "Today is a special day, not only for Albania, which has opened all of the clusters, but also for the European Union," EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said during a press conference.…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, NOV 16 - "The enemies of the media and how to deal with them." That is the theme of the 19th South East Europe Media Forum organized by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Central European Initiative (Cei/Ince) and South East Europe Media Organization (Seemo) and taking place this year in Chisinau, Moldova, from tomorrow to Nov. 18. Divided into several panels, the Forum is attended by journalism and communication experts from various Eastern and Central European countries, the Balkans and…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, NOV 16 - Long lines at the entrance right from the opening with the 150 tattoo and piercing artists who came from all over the world forced to get right to work for the large audience and clients who came from all over the Northeast but also from Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. This is the context in which the XV International Tattoo Expo was inaugurated today at the Generali Convention Center. The kermesse, which takes place every two years, will close tonight and is divided between…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - "Law 482/99 is a significant step forward for Italy in recognising how much the minority languages spoken by some of our communities contribute to our country's history and roots. Languages, as expressions of identity, provide added value and demonstrate the significance that linguistic minorities have and will continue to have in our country." This was stated by Gorizia's mayor, Rodolfo Ziberna, while speaking at the conference "Past, present, and future 25 years after…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - "We must join forces for a Europe of Defence," Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto stated at a press conference in Berlin following the E5 Defence Summit, which included Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom. "Growth in German defence investment is a guarantee for European citizens," he said, emphasising that each European country's efforts in the sector benefit the others. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - In the third quarter of 2025, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.2% in the eurozone and 0.3% in the EU, compared to the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office. In the second quarter of 2025, GDP increased by 0.1% in the eurozone and 0.2% in the European Union. Italy remained stable (0%). Sweden had the greatest increase (+1.1%), followed by Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia, all of which increased…

(ANSA) - UDINE, 14 NOV - Promoting a better understanding of social security records accumulated between Italy and Serbia and strengthening cooperation between the respective social security institutions: this is the goal of the International Social Security and Pension Information Days to be held in Trieste on December 10 and 11. The initiative, aimed at Serbian workers and Patronato institutions, is the first organized by INPS with a non-EU country under a bilateral agreement and is therefore…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - The death toll from last week's fire at a retirement home in Tuzla, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, has risen to 15, with two seriously injured people dying in the hospital in recent hours. The fire started on the night of November 4th in a ward of the facility that houses patients with dementia and limited mobility. Eleven people died instantly, with four more dying in recent days as a result of serious injuries. An autopsy revealed that all victims died from suffocation…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - "Trieste is a natural hub for Central Europe, connecting the Mediterranean, Balkans, and the heart of the Union," said the CEI Secretary General, Franco Dal Mas, during a visit to Warsaw, where he met with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Mościcka-Dendys and the Italian Ambassador to Poland, Luca Franchetti Pardo. Dal Mas' official visit to Poland revolved around the Three Seas Initiative, in which Poland is a key player, as well as the Trieste-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 14 - A Turkish firefighting plane crashed near the Croatian coastal town of Senj, killing the pilot and leaving only one person on board. Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli confirmed the crash. According to the Turkish newspaper Sabah, the AT-802 single-rotor turboprop air tractor vanished from radar yesterday afternoon and was later discovered on fire near Senj. On Wednesday morning, two Turkish Forestry Corps planes flew to Zagreb for maintenance, but due…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, 13 NOV - In 2022, the European Union recorded 1.29 million cancer deaths, accounting for almost a quarter of all deaths that year. Cancer mortality rates vary significantly between member countries: from 331 per 100,000 inhabitants in Poland to 209 in Malta, a difference of 1.6 times. The data, presented at the EUnetCCC Annual Meeting 2025, which brought together over 160 partners from 31 countries, was compiled by Diego Serraino, epidemiologist and senior consultant at Alleanza…

(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, NOV 13 - Berlin expects Ukraine to do far more to fight graft, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday after a major corruption scandal rocked Zelensky's government. Germany expects Ukraine to "energetically advance anti-corruption measures and further reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law," Merz told Zelensky in a telephone call, a statement from the chancellery said. (ANSA-AFP).

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 13 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said the agreement her government signed with Tirana two years ago for Italian-run migrant centres on Albanian territorial will keep going forward despite the many legal hurdles that have so far prevented it from taking off in earnest. Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thursday the agreement her government signed with Tirana two years ago for Italian-run migrant centres on Albanian territorial will keep going forward despite the many legal hurdles that have…

(ANSA) - PONTEBBA, 13 NOV - A €16 million investment marks the start of the new ski season in Nassfeld Pramollo, a ski resort between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Carinthia, used for the construction of a new 10-seater cable car, the Gartnerkofelbahn, consisting of 55 panoramic cabins that can carry up to 2,620 passengers per hour. The facility will start operating next December. "The previous four-seater chairlift, dating back to 1985, had reached the end of its life: after four decades of summer…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 13 - "The golden illusion of Ukraine is falling apart. A wartime mafia network with countless ties to President Zelensky has been exposed. The energy minister has already resigned, and the main suspect has fled the country. This is the chaos into which the Brusselian elite want to pour European taxpayers' money, where whatever isn't shot off on the front lines ends up in the pockets of the war mafia. Madness." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote in a tweet. "Anyhow,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 13 - "I'd like to start with a topic that was central to both our discussions at the European Council and at COP30 last week in Brazil: decarbonisation and competitiveness. From Brussels to Belém, the message was consistent. We must accelerate the transition to a clean economy while also promoting economic growth and prosperity. This was central to our discussions at the European Council: the race for decarbonisation is inextricably linked to the race for competitiveness."…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOV 13 - In October, Germany's inflation rate was 2.3% higher than the same period in 2024. The Federal Statistical Office released these figures today, and its president, Ruth Brand, emphasised that after two months of increases (2.4% in September and 2.2% in August), inflation growth was slightly lower in October. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, is at 2.8%, the same as in September 2025. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, NOV 12 - The training course "Challenges and Perspectives of Science Diplomacy in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe" (Challenges and Perspectives of Science Diplomacy in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe), to be held November 25-28, 2025, between Trieste and Gorizia, co-organized by InCE Executive Secretariat, Fvg Region and Dip. Political and Social Sciences (DISPES) University of Trieste, with support from Area Science Park and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste-in collaboration…

(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, NOV 12 - Zagreb's municipal assembly yesterday adopted a decision banning the use of Ustaša symbols during concerts, rallies and other public events held in facilities managed by the municipality. The decision comes amid continuing ideological tensions, which erupted this summer after far-right folk-rock singer Marko Perković Thompson held a concert in Zagreb in front of some half a million people, and characterized by the slow but steady 'normalization' of the public use of…

Hungarian Economy Minister Marton Nagy announced that deficit targets for 2025 and 2026 have been increased to 5 percent of GDP, up from the previous targets of 3.7 percent set in the budget law. The Orban government increases spending while elections next April are in sight, despite a stagnant economy (an estimated 0.5 percent GDP increase for 2025). A measure that could hint at a quest for consensus among voters. "By now it is clear, why Orban has of the financial shield, agreed with U.S. President…

(ANSA) - BELGRADO, NOV 12 - For Prime Minister Djuro Macut, Serbia has met all the technical conditions for EU membership, for which, however, political obstacles and the positions of some member countries remain. "I think we are really closer than ever to EU membership as we have met all the conditions. In so many meetings I have had as head of government I have perceived that everyone understands and respects us," Macut said today speaking at the opening in Belgrade of 'Euronews Adria Summit,'…

(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 12 NOV - Per il premier Djuro Macut, la Serbia ha soddisfatto tutti i presupposti tecnici per l'adesione alla Ue, per la quale tuttavia restano ostacoli di natura politica e le posizioni di alcuni Paesi membri. "Penso che siamo davvero più vicini che mai all'adesione all'Unione europea poichè abbiamo soddisfatto tutte le condizioni. In tanti incontri che ho avuto quale capo del governo ho percepito che tutti ci capiscono e ci rispettano", ha detto Macut intervenendo oggi all'apertura…