Ansa news

(ANSA) - BELGRADO, DEC 27 - A first large factory for the production of drones will be opened in Serbia between late March and early April. This was announced by President Aleksandar Vucic, stressing that these will be advanced and highly sophisticated drones. Speaking on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for a new complex that will house the Defense Ministry and General Staff in Belgrade, Vucic did not specify where such a facility will be built, merely saying that highly advanced drones…

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, DEC 26 - Campaigning in Kosovo closed in the evening ahead of Sunday's early parliamentary elections, which are being looked forward to in the hope of ending an entire year of political deadlock in the small Balkan country. The year-end vote was in fact called because of the inability to form a new government after the February 9 legislative elections. Despite having won that consultation ten months ago, Premier Albin Kurti's 'Vetevendosje' (Self-Determination, VV, nationalist…

(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, DEC 26 - "I would like to see soldiers with the European flag on their uniforms, working alongside our Ukrainian friends to ensure peace." This was said by the leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, in an interview with Die Zeit, supporting the contribution of German troops to the proposed multinational European force as a security guarantee after talks on Ukraine in Berlin. So far, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice Chancellor and Spd leader Lars…

(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, DEC 26 - "Today Die Zeit published an interview in which Manfred Weber openly states that he would like to see German soldiers in Ukraine under an EU flag. In his vision, the troops would serve under the European flag to ensure peace. In reality, this is not peace, it is a clear escalation to war." This was written on X by the spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Zoltan Kovacs, attacking the statements of the EPP leader. "Hungary does not want such a 'Christmas…

(ANSA) - ROMA, DEC 24 - The Interforce Summit Operations Commander (Covi), Army Corps General Giovanni Maria Iannucci, visited the Italian contingent, deployed as part of the NATO Multinational Battle Group Hungary. Welcomed by the Italian Military Attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Hungary, Colonel Filippo Di Stefano, and the Commander of the Italian National Support Element, Lieutenant Colonel Federico Vaia, General Iannucci initially participated in an update briefing on the contingent's operational…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, DEC 24 - The Questore of Trieste, Lilia Fredella, awarded a "Commendation" to Deputy Chief of the Criminal Police Sector of Koper Senior Inspector Specialist II Dejan Grandic, Chief of the General Crime Section Senior Inspector Specialist II Tanja Skerlj, both serving at the Criminal Police of Koper, and Slovenian Police Officer Damjan Apollonio, current head of the Organized Crime Sector at the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia. The conferment took place in…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 23 - The total tourism turnover in Italy during the Christmas season, which includes Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Epiphany, exceeds seven billion euros. According to CNA Tourism and Commerce's estimate, which ANSA has published in advance, there will be over five million tourists (those who stay at least one night in a hotel or other accommodation), with 3.7 million Italians and 1.3 million foreigners. More than 20 million people, however, will travel during the period (by…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 23 - Italy has the most gas reserves in Europe, followed by Germany, which has more structural storage capacity. According to data published by GIE, the European Association of Network Operators, Italy's gas storage capacity was 77.3% full, at 157.2 TWh, compared to 163.7 TWh on December 21, 2024. In Germany, storage capacity is 61.1% full, at 153.45 TWh, down from 207.94 TWh the previous year. The EU's storage capacity ratio is 66.89%, at 764.3 TWh, compared to 871 TWh in…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 23 - Slovenia's President Nataša Pirc Musar plans to hold a general election on March 22. The official writs will be issued in early January, she said at a New Year's reception for journalists on Monday, according to Slovenian news agency STA. Pirc Musar announced in October that the election would take place on March 15, 22, or 29. According to the law, general elections are held between 135 and 75 days before the fourth anniversary of the first session of the sitting parliament.…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 22 - The EU Council has approved a six-month renewal of economic sanctions against Russia. The measures are set to expire on July 31, 2026. The package contains a wide range of sectoral economic restrictions. It also prohibits the import or transfer of seaborne oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU, excludes several Russian banks from the Swift system, and suspends broadcasting activities and licences in the EU for several Kremlin-backed disinformation outlets.…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 22 - "This year, we have received over a thousand reports of suspicious drone flights. The issue is that these are frequently visual sightings, and thus errors can occur; for example, in bad weather, the lights seen can be confused with those of an aeroplane. This means that they are not always drones, and not all drones are dangerous," Holger Muench, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild. He did, however, emphasise…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 22 - According to Eurostat, the passion for ChatGpt or Gemini in Italy has not taken off, and the country will be among the last in the European Union to use generative AI tools in 2025. According to the European Statistical Office, only 19.9% of Italians aged 16 to 74 have used generative AI tools in the last three months, compared to a European average of 32.7%. Only Romania performs worse, with 17.8%. In contrast, Denmark (48.4%), Estonia (46.6%), and Malta (46.5%) had…

(ANSA) - BELGRADO, DEC 21 - Serbia and Slovakia's willingness to extend and intensify bilateral cooperation in all fields emerged in talks held today in Belgrade by Presidents Aleksandar Vucic and Peter Pellegrini. Speaking at a press conference, Vucic referred in particular to the interest in developing cooperation in the field of defense and military industry, nuclear energy and new Slovak investments in joint projects, starting with infrastructure projects. Electricity is much cheaper in Slovakia,…

(ANSA-AFP) - KYIV, 20 DIC - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the United States proposed to hold talks between Ukrainian and Russian teams in Miami, as officials gathered there for another round of talks to end the war. "They proposed this format as far as I understand: Ukraine, America, Russia," Zelensky said, adding that the Europeans could be present and it would be "logical to hold such a joint meeting... after we understand the potential results of the meeting that…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 20 - Since the beginning of the year, Serbia has recorded the arrival of 9,567 irregular migrants, a 49% decrease compared to the same period last year. Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Natasa Stanisavljevic said on Thursday, remebering this is the lowest number of arrivals since the beginning of the migration crisis ten years ago. Currently, 235 migrants are housed in six reception centres in Serbia, out of a total capacity of approximately 3,000 guests. A significant…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 19 - The Bundesbank has slightly reduced its growth forecast for Germany in 2026, forecasting a 0.6% GDP increase. The forecast in June was +0.7%. The current year is expected to see a 0.2% mini-growth. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 19 - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claims that his negotiations in Brussels were successful, as they resulted in an agreement on a €90 billion loan to Ukraine without touching immobilised Russian assets, granting Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic an opt-out and an exemption. "We had a long, difficult night. We avoided the immediate threat of war. "We did not allow Europe to declare war on Russia by using Russian assets," Orban stated on social media. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 19 - In light of US sanctions on Serbian oil company NIS, Russian giant Gazpromnyeft is negotiating the sale of its ownership stake, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said, calling for a "common solution" in this regard. "We understand what is happening with NIS. We have an intergovernmental agreement, and we believe the friendly Serbian leadership will take it into consideration," Putin said at the year-end press conference. "We have an idea about how we can move forward…

(ANSA-AFP) - BELGRADE, DEC 19 - EU leaders struck a deal Friday to provide Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros to plug its looming budget shortfalls -- but failed to agree on using frozen Russian assets to come up with the funds. The middle-of-the-night agreement reached at summit talks in Brussels offers Kyiv a desperately needed lifeline as US President Donald Trump pushes for a quick deal to end Russia's nearly four-year war. "Today's decision will provide Ukraine with the necessary means to defend…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 18 - Rheinmetall, the German arms giant, announced that it has received a new order from the German Army for space satellites. This multi-year contract with the Army's procurement office is worth around €1.7 billion, with an option for an extension. The Bundeswehr will have access to space reconnaissance data collected by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. The German Army is expected to receive a large number of images each day, which must be made available quickly.…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, DEC 18 - In the first eleven months of the year, Slovenian police recorded only 25,580 cases of irregular border crossings, more than 40% fewer than the previous year, according to the Slovenian news agency STA. Since 2023, the annual figure has been steadily declining, according to STA. This year, the majority of irregular migrants identified in Slovenia came from Afghanistan, Egypt, and Bangladesh. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - "Italy is fully committed to ensuring that tomorrow's European Council sends a strong political message about enlargement, demonstrating unity and collective credibility. Conversely, if we do not make progress on our partners' EU accession journeys, we risk losing them to our systemic rivals, permanently destabilising our neighbourhood and consigning the EU to irrelevance," said the Italia Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in her remarks to the Chamber of Deputies ahead of…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - The Federal Statistical Office announced today that 650,000 people in Germany have a history of migration from Italy, commemorating the anniversary of the first agreement for the use of Italian labour in Germany, which occurred on December 20, 1955. The data refers to 2024, and 465,000 (72%) are immigrants, while 185,000 (28%) were born in Germany. Between 1955 and 1973, 24% of those born in Italy moved to Germany, and nearly a third (32%, or 147,000) arrived since 2014.…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - Viktor Orbán said he wrote to Vladimir Putin, asking how Russia would react if the European Union decided to use frozen Russian assets and whether individual member states' votes on the issue would be considered. Moscow responded that if this happened, it would use force. The pro-government Hungarian media outlet Mandiner reported this, citing the Hungarian prime minister's statement to reporters. "Russia's response," Orbán stated, "was that the Russians' reaction was…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - "Europe must take responsibility for its own security. This is no longer an option. It is an obligation. We know the threats we face, and we will address them. This means we must be ready. We must develop and deploy new capabilities to fight a modern hybrid war. Here too, we are moving mountains," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at the Strasbourg plenary session ahead of the EU Council. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - Leonardo has signed a contract with Austria's Directorate of Air Armaments and Airworthiness to supply 12 M-346 multirole aircraft to the Austrian Air Force. The aircraft are required to defend national airspace and territory, as well as for military pilot training. The contract calls for the supply of light fighter-configured aircraft to the new M-346 F Block 20 standard, complete with a cockpit with Large Area Display (LAD), active electronically scanned array radar,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 17 - The PowerCo factory in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, Germany, was officially opened today. For the first time, Volkswagen brands will have their battery cells designed, developed, and produced entirely in Europe. The company announced the inauguration, and Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume emphasised the factory's European focus: "We were the first European car manufacturer to develop and manufacture battery cells ourselves." 2This improves our standing and independence in global…

(ANSA-AFP) - HELSINKI, DEC 16 - Defending Europe's eastern flank should be an "immediate" priority for the European Union in the face of the threat posed by Russia, eight EU leaders meeting in Helsinki said Tuesday. "Russia remains a threat today, tomorrow and in the foreseeable future for the whole of Europe," Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters following the first Eastern Flank Summit gathering the leaders of Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden.…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 16 - Montenegro continues to make progress towards EU membership. At the twenty-fourth meeting of the Accession Conference with Montenegro in Brussels, negotiations were provisionally closed on five negotiating chapters: chapter 3 on the right of establishment and the freedom to provide services; chapter 4 on the free movement of capital; chapter 6 on company law; chapter 11 on agriculture and rural development; and chapter 13 on fisheries. Montenegro has closed twelve of…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 16 - The ZEW Institute's survey of German economic sentiment in December came in at 45.8 points, up 7.3 points from the previous month. The institute's assessment of the current economic climate, however, remains almost unchanged, with a -81 point reading, up 2.3 points from November. (ANSA).