GLOBAL DIARY
LEADERSHIP
“Together, the G7 is demonstrating the strong global leadership it will take to maximize the costs to Putin and his enablers and address the impact of his war on the global economy” – JOE BIDEN, US PRESIDENT
OPEN BALKAN SUMMIT Leaders of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia signed an 8th June agreement on cooperation in the area of mutual recognition of diplomas and academic qualifications, as well as multiple memoranda at the summit of the Open Balkan initiative. The memoranda signed relate to cooperation in the areas of culture, tourism and the economy. This is the second time official agreements have been signed in the framework of the initiative. The summit held in Tirana last December saw the signing of several agreements, including one on conditions for free access to the job market, the interconnectivity of schemes of electronic identification for citizens and collaboration in the fields of veterinary and food safety.
CHAOS IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY People around the world are anxious to travel again as pandemic restrictions are being lifted. But those planning to jump on a plane for a holiday have been frustrated by chaos in the airline industry. In both North America and Europe, thousands of flights have been cancelled and hundreds of thousands of passengers
BULGARIA’S COALITION GOVERNMENT RESIGNS Bulgaria’s coalition government led by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov submitted its resignation to the Bulgarian Parliament after losing a 22nd June vote of no confidence. Following Petkov’s resignation, President Rumen Radev launched consultations with parliamentarians to form a new Cabinet in accordance with constitutional procedures. He met representatives of the We Continue the Change (WCC) party, the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Petkov, who heads the WCC, the largest parliamentary group, has declared his intention to run for prime minister again. If he fails, the Citizens for GERB party, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, will be tasked Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov with forming a government.
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have had their trips disrupted. The main cause of the disruptions has been a shortage of qualified personnel at airports to handle the recent surge in passenger traffic. Hundreds of thousands of aviation workers were laid off or terminated, removing years of experience and technical expertise from the ranks of the commercial aviation sector worldwide.
