Although Kosovo fought to break away from Serbia in 1999 and proclaimed independence in 2008, Serbia continues to pay off its foreign debt because it considers the former province a part of its own territory. Source Balkan Insight
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will consider returning the two Greek soldiers who have been detained in Turkey if Greece extradites the eight Turkish servicemen who sought protection in the country after the foiled coup attempt in July 2016, Source Ekathimerini
Greece will this summer lease two state-of-the-art French warships, the defense ministry said Friday, as Athens seeks to bolster its defenses in the Aegean Sea amid growing tensions with Turkey, which calls on the former to avoid escalating tensions by stopping the violations in disputed islets. Source Daily Sabah
Speaker of the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin is pressing for the introduction of a ban on carrying out US sanctions on Russian soil and did not rule out criminal liability for its breach. Source Tass
