Italy has warned that Russia is competing with the EU for influence in the Western Balkans, as the bloc underlined its old enlargement pledge. “There are other regional or global powers that are very interested in having an influence in this region,” Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni told press. He said there were geopolitical “tensions … difficulties … [and] misunderstandings” over the future of the six former Yugoslav nations. Source: EUObserver
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
The European Commission on Thursday criticized the behavior of a Serbian lawmaker who trampled on the Croatian flag in the Serbian parliament. As a result of the incident, which took place Wednesday, a delegation from Croatia canceled the rest of their visit to Serbia, whose aim was to improve relations between the Balkan neighbors. Source: Politico
Greece has accepted a €535 million offer from a consortium led by Italy’s Snam for a majority stake in gas grid operator DESFA, naming it the “preferred investor”, its privatisation agency said on Thursday (19 April). Source: Euractiv
