Ansa news

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - Enel has acquired a portfolio of two onshore wind farms in Germany with a combined installed capacity of 51 MW. According to a press release, the transaction will add approximately €10 million in ordinary EBITDA to the group's profitability each year, thanks to a regulated feed-in premium tariff that ensures a minimum level of remuneration if market sales prices fall below the established threshold. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - The Electoral Complaints and Appeals Commission (ECAP) in Kosovo has upheld the appeal of Srpska Lista (SL), the largest party in the local Serb community, allowing its candidates to run in the December 28 parliamentary elections. The Central Electoral Commission in Pristina had previously barred SL candidates. In its ruling, ECAP argued that this decision, which harmed SL candidates, was deficient, incomplete, and failed to address critical issues and facts concerning…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - "Italy is working hard to accelerate the European Union's enlargement to the Western Balkans, which has entered a more active phase than in previous years. As ambassador to Serbia, I'm encouraging Serbia to seize this opportunity as well," Luca Gori, the Italian ambassador to Serbia, told ANSA on the sidelines of the annual Conference of Ambassadors, which is currently taking place at the Farnesina. "In particular," Gori continued, "we are in favour of opening Cluster…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced today that 35 countries will compete in the 70th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Vienna from May 12 to 16, 2026. Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain are all absent, having decided to boycott the event in protest of Israel's presence. Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova will return to the ESC after three, two, and one years, respectively. "As we prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 15 - "The international context in which we live has once again brought foreign policy to the forefront of our public debate. Despite so many unknowns, one thing is certain: Italy and its government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, are becoming increasingly important global players. Peace, development, and growth are the cornerstones of our actions, which always prioritise people." Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani made this statement at the Farnesina during the opening…

(ANSA-AFP) - PRAGUE, DEC 15 - The new government of Czech billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis was sworn in on Monday amid questions about its ties to the EU and aid to war-ravaged Ukraine. Babis's catch-all ANO movement won a general election in the EU and NATO member state of 10.9 million people in October. It has teamed up with two eurosceptic parties, the far-right SPD and right-wing Motorists, to form the cabinet with the backing of 108 lawmakers in the 200-seat parliament. President Petr…

(ANSA) - BELGRADO, DEC 13 - A new demonstration in support of former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders who are on trial in The Hague for war crimes took place in Skopje today. On Skenderbeg Square in the Macedonian capital--regional media report--demonstrators from the Albanian minority in North Macedonia, the majority population of Kosovo, and many from neighboring Albania as well, all gathered to clamor for the release of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselj, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi, who are…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 13 - According to The Wall Street Journal, US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin this weekend, in a critical meeting as the White House seeks an agreement to end the war with Russia by the end of the year. The decision to send Witkoff, who has led talks with Ukraine and Russia on a US peace plan, highlights the urgency of efforts to narrow the gap between Kiev and Washington on the terms of the agreement.…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - Austria has opened a new railway line that includes one of the world's longest railway tunnels, according to the news agency DPA. The Koralm Railway, which is 130 kilometres long, connects the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt and is expected to significantly reduce travel times and improve rail connections between northern and southern Europe. The train journey between the two southern state capitals now takes 41 minutes, down from nearly three hours by train and two hours…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - "In Heidelberg, I had a very pleasant and positive meeting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. We share a common vision of Europe's role and the need to strengthen EU action on security, competitiveness, and migration issues," Antonio Tajani wrote in X following the meeting on the sidelines of the EPP meeting. "We will continue to work closely with Berlin to establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and the Middle East as soon as possible. The next Intergovernmental Summit,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - "The European integration process is not yet complete and faces new challenges, reinforcing its appeal. The ambitions, efforts, and will of our neighbours, from the Western Balkans to Moldova, Ukraine to Georgia, must be matched by the Union's active willingness to welcome them." This was stated by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella during his speech at the New Year's Eve greeting ceremony for diplomats. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - Slovakia will not support any solution that would fund Ukraine's military spending at the next EU summit, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced in the Slovak Parliament yesterday, after reading his letter to European Council President Antonio Costa. "Slovakia will not participate in plans that merely prolong suffering and killing," Fico stated. Furthermore, in his letter to Costa, Fico stated that he will not support "any solution that includes covering Ukraine's…

(ANSA-AFP) - BERLIN, DEC 12 - Germany said Friday it had identified two Russian cyber operations, targeting air traffic control and February's general election, and that it had summoned the Russian ambassador. A foreign ministry spokesman said: "We can now clearly attribute the cyberattack against German Air Safety in August 2024 to the hacker collective APT28, also known as Fancy Bear. "Second, we can now state definitively that Russia, through the Storm 1516 campaign, sought to influence and destabilise…

(ANSA-AFP) - PRISTINA, DEC 12 - Kosovo has started accepting migrants that the United States wants to deport, under an accord with President Donald Trump's administration, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said. "We are accepting those whom the United States does not want on its territory," Kurti said a television interview late Thursday, adding that one or two of the migrants had arrived in the Balkan state. Under the accord reached in June, Kosovo could accept up to 50 people, according to the Kurti…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticised the EU's decision to indefinitely renew sanctions on Russian assets in Europe, citing Article 122 of the Treaty, which allows for qualified majority voting. "Today, Brussels is crossing the Rubicon," Orbán said, pointing to a procedure that allows the EU to "eliminate the unanimity requirement with the stroke of a pen, clearly illegal." "With today's decision," he continued, "the rule of law in the EU has come to an end,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 12 - EssilorLuxottica has announced the acquisition of Signifeye, a leading Belgian ophthalmic platform that provides excellent care through 15 clinics and diagnostic centres in Flanders. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. This comes after the recent acquisition of Optegra, a rapidly expanding and fully integrated European ophthalmic platform with over 70 clinics in the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. (ANSA).

(ANSA) - VILNIUS, DEC 11 - The Latvian president, Edgars Rinkevics, met today in Riga with his Polish counterpart, Karol Nawrocki, with whom he discussed the implementation of bilateral relations with a focus on regional security and the defense sector. The bilateral focused, in particular, on the need to ensure greater security of the Atlantic Alliance's eastern border and greater resilience to hybrid attacks coming from Belarus. Rinkevics and Nawrocki said they were convinced that alongside even…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 11 - Franco Dal Mas, Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI), visited Bucharest yesterday and today to discuss the Romanian CEI Presidency's priorities for 2026. FM Minister Toiu outlined a mandate aimed at achieving concrete results, with a particular emphasis on assisting candidate countries' European paths, strengthening regional connectivity, combating misinformation, and engaging local governments and young people. Dal Mas emphasised the importance…

(ANSA-AFP) - SOFIA, DEC 11 - Bulgaria's prime minister announced Thursday that his government was resigning after less than a year in office following a series of anti-graft protests. "The government resigns today," Bulgarian Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov told reporters after a meeting of ruling parties' leaders. (ANSA-AFP).

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 11 - "I received a message from Moscow": Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's outburst during his meeting with EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa in Brussels last night caused a stir. Cameras captured Vučić's remarks during the traditional pre-meeting photo opportunity. The Serbian president spoke into an open microphone, and von der Leyen responded, embarrassed, "Let's wait... let's wait until..." without finishing her sentence. During the working dinner,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 11 - Protesters in Bulgaria have launched new protests against the government, accusing it of corruption and mafia connections. Over 50,000 people gathered late into the evening in Sofia's Independence Square, which overlooks the parliamentary, government, and presidential buildings, known as the "triangle of power," to demand the government's immediate resignation. The protesters held signs reading "The mafia government is over!" "The last straw has spilt over," and "This…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 10 - "We must open more safe routes to Europe. We must build more bridges between our continents so people can find jobs where their talent is needed and take their skills beyond our borders. This is at the heart of our new partnerships for talent, which offer employment pathways to Europe. So far, five countries have joined these partnerships, and we hope others will follow suit." This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who clarified that migrant…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 10 - "Our position is clear, and I can state unequivocally that Volodymyr Zelensky is a duly elected president who has every right to do so. Ukraine must decide everything else." Steffen Meyer, the German Chancellor's spokesman, said this at a press conference in Berlin, in response to a question about Donald Trump's request for new elections in Ukraine and the Ukrainian leader's willingness to comply. "We've taken note of his statement," he said. According to Zelensky himself,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 10 - "Italy has worked on proposing innovative solutions, which are now viewed with increasing interest and becoming common practice. I am referring, first and foremost, to the Albania Protocol. This model was part of the European path for managing asylum requests and repatriations outside the EU but under European jurisdiction," said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Global Alliance against Migrant Smuggling Conference. Meloni referred to the EU Home Affairs Council's…

(ANSA) - PORDENONE, DEC 10 - "A survey of Central European poetry of our time, five seasons to compose an extraordinary poetic map in the heart of Europe: poetry, therefore, as a means of reconstructing, through a new network of relationships between poets and scholars, the Central European cultural fabric that was lost after World War II, particularly on the level of the poetic tradition." this, for the artistic director of pordenonelegge, Gian Mario Villalta, is the goal of the new project that…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 10 - The European Parliament and Council agreed overnight to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040, with a number of flexibility measures to make the trajectory less rigid. The agreement, reached after a single negotiating session, allows for the inclusion of up to 5% of non-EU international carbon credits in the emissions balance sheet starting in 2036. The agreement confirms a one-year delay in the implementation of the ETS2 system for transport and buildings from 2027 to 2028,…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 9 - "We had an excellent and in-depth meeting with Meloni to discuss all aspects of the diplomatic situation. We appreciate Italy's active role in developing concrete ideas and defining strategies to bring peace closer. I informed her about the work of our negotiating team, and we are coordinating our diplomatic efforts. We rely heavily on Italy's continued support; it is critical for Ukraine," Zelensky wrote on X. "I also want to express my gratitude for the energy assistance…

(ANSA-AFP) - VILNIUS, DEC 9 - Lithuania on Tuesday declared an "emergency situation" over an influx of balloons launched from neighbouring Belarus by smugglers, describing it as a "hybrid attack" orchestrated by Minsk. The measure is one step below a "state of emergency", which can only be declared by parliament when the country's "constitutional order" is in danger. Lithuania previously declared an emergency situation due to an influx of migrants across the border in 2021, and also described it…

(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 9 - According to Bloomberg, German lawmakers are expected to approve 29 military procurement contracts worth a record €52 billion next week as part of the government's efforts to transform the Bundeswehr into Europe's most powerful conventional army. The orders encompass a wide range of materials and services, including €22 billion for basic military equipment and clothing, €4.2 billion for Puma infantry fighting vehicles, €3 billion for Arrow 3 interceptor missiles…

(ANSA) - TRIESTE, DEC 9 - "Not only history and tradition unite us, but also the future, which we are building together, and this city proves it." This is the message of "friendship between Serbia and Italy, based on mutual respect and cooperation" spread by Serbian first lady Tamara Vucic at the unveiling of a plaque to the memory of Dositej Obradović, writer, reformer and founder of modern Serbian education, who stayed in Trieste in the early 19th century. A friendship that is summed up in the…