Ethnic groups in Serbia

BELGRADE - Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday he had spoken with members of the Bosniak community following a recent terrorist attack in which a Wahhabist wounded a gendarme outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, and added that he expected to see cooperation with the Islamic community in the fight against terrorism.

The 2023 census in Albania not only showed alarming demographic data but stirred a fresh round of tensions with the Balkan nation's neighbors. 

Figures published late last week showed that the country's population shrank by 14% in 12 years from approximately 2.8 million to around 2.4 million. 

In Albania, 7,057 individuals identified themselves as Bulgarians, based on data released by "Top Channel." This marks the first census after Bulgaria's national minority was officially recognized in Albania in 2017.

In December 2023, travel to and from Bulgaria increased compared to the same month in the previous year, according to data from the National Statistical Institute. The number trips of Bulgarians abroad for this month has reached 649.1 thousand, increasing by 7.3% compared to December 2022.

Groundbreaking DNA research spanning Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Albania, and Greece has unveiled striking revelations about the genetic makeup of Balkan populations. The study, conducted collaboratively by scientists from Serbia, Spain, and the US, sheds light on the prevalence of Slavic genes in the region.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said in a televised interview for Serbian TV "Pink" that Bulgaria does not recognize national minorities, but on the other hand, reacted to the situation of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia.

VRANJE - North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski said during a visit to Serbia's monastery of St Prohor Pcinjski on Wednesday he hoped the good tradition of celebrations of Ilinden - North Macedonia's greatest national holiday - would be continued at the monastery, the "place where the Macedonian republic was formed."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the cornerstone ceremony for the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway in Sremska Raca, Serbia, 8 October 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/KOCA SULEJMANOVIC

They sent messages over the weekend via social media, and paid visits and joined meetings and political rallies in Turkey itself.

The Albanian and British authorities said on Tuesday in a joint statement that since December last year, 1,000 Albanian nationals have been returned to their home country - "a combination of failed asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and voluntary returns".

The head of the Workers' Party of Turkey, the child of Bosniak immigrants from Sandzak, has generated a stir in Turkish politics - which he hopes will translate into seats in the May elections.