VOA Russian speaks to regional experts who believe that President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly found himself in a corner after it appears Russian air defense accidentally shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. Azerbaijan will not completely break away from Russia, but Baku’s strong statements indicate that Russia’s influence over the region will rapidly decrease.

Click here for the full story in Russian.
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BELGRADE, SERBIA — Instead of the traditional boisterous street partying on New Year’s Eve, tens of thousands of protesters led by university students gathered overnight in Belgrade and other Serbian cities to demand political reforms and justice in the Balkan country.

The protesters have been actively demonstrating following the tragic collapse of a concrete canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad’s central train station on Nov. 1, which resulted in 15 deaths.

The tragedy has been attributed to corruption and substandard construction practices by the populist Serbian leadership, leading to a widespread public outcry and demands for accountability.

Students from various Belgrade universities have organized the protest under the slogan “There is No New Year — You Still Owe Us for the Old One.”

The loud crowd, chanting “We Want Justice,” went silent at 11:52 p.m. with 15 minutes to honor the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy. Many were holding banners with a red handprint, which has become a symbol of the antigovernment protests, telling the authorities that they have blood on their hands.

Earlier, they marched past a state-sponsored concert where the crowd danced to folk music tunes. Police guarded the area where the concert was taking place and set up metal fences while directing the protesting crowd to other streets nearby to avoid contact between the two groups.

The antigovernment protesters emphasized that, despite the festive season, their commitment to seeking justice remains unwavering. The student-led movement has garnered support from various societal groups, including professors, farmers and actors, reflecting broader discontent with autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic’s leadership.

Thousands of people also gathered in Novi Sad and the southern city of Nis for parallel gatherings also led by university students in those cities.

In Belgrade, state-sponsored concerts and other New Year’s celebrations were organized in the city center and in a newly built high-rise Belgrade Waterfront neighborhood, which Vucic has claimed is his own project together with the United Arab Emirates investors.

Belgrade has become a favorite partying destination for tourists on New Year’s Eve, with street partying and huge fireworks.

The crowds in Belgrade braved very cold weather and fog to join the students. The New Year’s Eve protest comes just more than a week after tens of thousands rallied together with the students in what was one of the biggest gatherings in recent years in the Serbian capital.

Serbia’s public prosecutor on Monday indicted 13 people, including a former minister, over the collapse of the concrete canopy. The protesters say that is not enough as the indictment does not include charges of possible corrupt deals during a renovation of the Novi Sad train station that was part of a wider deal with Chinese companies.

Vucic earlier told pro-government Prva TV that all student demands have been fulfilled.

“I have always been ready to talk, I am asking them now but they won’t talk to me, they have no arguments, the prosecutors fulfilled the last of their demands, all documents they wanted have been published and nothing happened,” Vucic said, adding he won’t be toppled by street protests. 
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ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST — Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong military presence. It is the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout would begin in January. France has had as many as 600 troops in Ivory Coast.

“We have decided on the concerted and organized withdrawal of French forces in Ivory Coast,” he said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouet that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops.

Outtara’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s military is being asked to leave. Analysts have described the moves as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris.

Several West African nations — including coup-hit Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — have recently asked the French to leave. Most recently, Senegal and Chad did the same. Chad is considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa.

The downscaling of military ties comes as France has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa.

France has now been kicked out of more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops.

After expelling French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians.

The security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from armed groups and government forces.
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BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen zone on Wednesday, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two eastern European countries.

The expansion, made possible when Austria and other members dropped their objections to the former communist countries joining, officially took place at midnight on Wednesday, marked by ceremonies at various border posts.

Romania and Bulgaria, both members of the European Union since 2007, were partially included in the Schengen zone in March, eliminating border checks at ports and airports.

But Austria had threatened to veto their full entry over migration concerns, which meant that controls still applied at land border crossings.

Vienna backed off its veto threat in December after the three countries reached a deal on a “border protection package,” clearing the way for Romania and Bulgaria, two of the EU’s poorest countries, to join Schengen.

Overlap with EU but not identical

Created in 1985, the zone will now include 25 of the EU’s 27 members, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, covering a total population of more than 400 million people.

Romania and Bulgaria had met the Schengen zone’s technical requirements for membership since 2011.

But “member states objected every time” they tried to join, analyst Valentin Naumescu told Agence France-Presse.

That became “a source of frustration exploited by anti-EU parties, which alleged Romania was being treated unfairly,” he said.

The resentment came into play in Romania’s recent presidential elections, in which far-right candidate Calin Georgescu surged to a surprise first-round win, before the polls were canceled amid claims of Russian interference.

Now, “that feeling of being second-class citizens” should fade, Naumescu said.

Nations came to an agreement

Leaders on both sides hailed the expansion as “historic.”

Austria had for years complained about hosting a disproportionate number of undocumented migrants as a result of poorly protected external Schengen borders.

It dropped its objections to Romania (population 19 million) and Bulgaria (6.5 million) joining Schengen after the three countries signed a border protection agreement in November.

The deal provides for the joint deployment of guards to the Bulgarian-Turkish border and temporary controls at land crossings for an initial period of six months.

Joining the zone will boost Romania’s and Bulgaria’s gross domestic product by at least one percentage point, analysts estimate.

Truck drivers celebrate the change

Lorry drivers, who currently wait up to 20 hours at border crossings, celebrated the news.

“It was a pure waste of time for drivers, who couldn’t even stop to rest because they had to move their vehicles every 10 minutes,” said Beniamin Lucescu, head of a Romanian transport federation.

Poor road and railroad infrastructure in Bulgaria could limit the positive impact there.

The countries’ tourism sectors are meanwhile expecting a surge in visitors from the two countries to nearby Greece.

“It’s excellent news,” said 46-year-old sales manager Ivailo Kirkov, who owns a house in northern Greece. “We’d been waiting impatiently.”

Greek teacher and tour guide Gueorgui Grantcharov predicted a rush of Romanian and Bulgarian tourists to Greece.

With no queues at the border, “it takes just over four hours to get from Sofia to Thessaloniki,” he said.
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France said Tuesday it had carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militant positions in Syria.

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a post on X that the strikes happened Sunday, but did not specify where in Syria they took place.

The French action follows several rounds of U.S. strikes against Islamic State targets in the weeks since rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Islamic State militants took control of large areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq in 2014, drawing an international response that included a U.S.-led coalition aimed at defeating the group.

The militants have lost much of the territory they once held, but they are still present in Syria.

The Western military strikes come amid questions about Syria’s political and security future following the fall of Assad’s government.

The rebels who led the quick advance that ended with Assad leaving the country have announced they would dissolve all rebel groups and incorporate them under the Syrian military.

Syria’s new authorities announced Tuesday the selection of Murhaf Abu Qasra as the new defense minister.

Qasra was a leading figure in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led the rebel push to topple Assad.

Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — On a frigid morning in Moldova’s capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with “no heating, no light.”

His concerns aren’t unfounded.

On January 1, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is set to halt gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies, a figure fiercely disputed by Moldova’s pro-Western government, that has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy as a political tool to destabilize the country.

“I feel that we’ve entered a crisis that is quite difficult to resolve … which worries me greatly,” Murzin told The Associated Press in Chisinau. “Price increases are one thing, but when there is no gas at all, that’s something entirely different.”

The cessation will stop gas flowing to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country’s largest, which is situated in the separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region. The gas-operated plant generates electricity that powers a significant portion of Moldova proper.

“There will be no heating, no light,” Murzin added. “We are entering a very difficult year.”

Transnistria declares state of emergency

Transnistria, which broke away after a short war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries, also declared its own state of emergency earlier in December, fearing the region will not receive gas supplies. A large majority of Transnistria’s 470,000 people speak Russian as their first language and some 200,000 are Russian citizens.

On December 13, Moldova’s parliament voted in favor of imposing a state of emergency in the energy sector, as the looming crisis threatened to leave the former Soviet republic without sufficient energy this winter, sparking fears it could trigger a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria, where the impact of the gas cutoff could be immediately felt.

Many observers have predicted that the looming energy shortage could force residents in Transnistria to travel to Moldova to seek basic amenities to get through winter, a season in which temperatures throughout the country regularly drop below subzero degrees Celsius.

Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University, said that Moscow is likely trying to exploit a “potential humanitarian crisis in Transnistria to overwhelm Moldova’s already-strained resources” to amplify tensions between Chisinau and the region’s de facto capital, Tiraspol.

“It could stoke fears among the Moldovan electorate of a violent conflict, and give fodder to pro-Russian parties who will accuse Chisinau of being responsible for increased prices for gas and electricity, which will be a major campaign issue” ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections in 2025, he said.

Chisinau takes steps

The unprecedented situation prompted Chisinau last week to implement a series of energy-saving measures beginning January 1, which include reducing lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30%, and energy-intensive businesses operating during off-peak hours.

“We’ll probably have to save power until we have a solution,” said Nicoleta Neagu, who is from Moldova but works in Germany. “I hope we’ll look at this seriously and not waste power on not-so-useful things.”

After Gazprom announced it would halt gas flows, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean accused Moscow of using energy “as a political weapon” and said his government does not recognize the debt cited by the Russian energy giant, which he said has been “invalidated by an international audit.”

“This decision confirms once again the intention of the Kremlin to leave the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region without light and heat in the middle of the winter,” he said.

For 30-year-old Chisinau resident Iuliana, who did not want to give her surname, power outages would prevent her from doing her online job, which could also be untenable if the heating goes off in the middle of winter in the country of about 2.5 million people.

“We’re afraid, but we’re happy that there’s no snow and the temperatures aren’t that low and we can turn on the heating maybe only in the evening if we work at an office,” she said. “But I work from home and I’ll be directly affected.”

She also noted that Moldova has faced multiple crises in recent years, “But regarding power and gas, it’s the first time we face this,” she said.

‘Energy blackmail’

Moldovan President Maia Sandu criticized Russia on Monday for Gazprom’s decision and said that the country has gas supplies “for the heating season” and measures will be taken “to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply,” adding that plans are also in place to provide humanitarian aid to residents in Transnistria.

“The Kremlin is again using energy blackmail in an attempt to destabilize the situation, to influence the 2025 parliamentary elections and to undermine our European journey,” she said. “It is important to remain united, show solidarity, and trust in Moldova and its people. And to use energy rationally.”

Moldova has repeatedly claimed Russia is conducting a vast “hybrid war” against the country by meddling in elections, funding anti-government protests, and running vast disinformation campaigns to try to topple the government and derail the country’s EU aspirations.

The Kuciurgan plant was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state-owned company, but Chisinau doesn’t recognize the privatization. On Monday, Recean asked the justice minister to review nationalization legislation, to potentially recover “strategic assets that were forcefully taken over.”

Citing findings by British and Norwegian audit firms, Moldova claims its debt stands close to $8.6 million, a fraction of that claimed by the Russian energy giant. Gazprom said in a statement Saturday that it reserved the right to take further action, including terminating its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova’s main gas operator, in which the Russian company owns a majority stake.

In late 2022, months after Russia fully invaded neighboring Ukraine, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian strikes on Ukraine, which is interconnected to the Kuciurgan plant.

When the war next door started, Moldova was entirely dependent on Moscow for natural gas but has since pushed to diversify and expand its energy sources, and now relies on obtaining gas from other European markets.

Murzin, the postal worker, is expecting to see large inflows of people from Transnistria crossing the border once the shortage hits.

“I think cars will line up for several kilometers at the border,” he said. “Many people will come here, hoping for warmth.”
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Paris — French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou arrived Monday in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte to unveil a recovery plan three weeks after Cyclone Chido brought devastation.

Bayrou, recently appointed prime minister, also updated the death toll to 39 but urged caution, saying the final number could range from “a few dozen to a few hundred.”

Days after the cyclone, Mayotte’s prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, had warned of the possibility of “several hundred or even a few thousand” deaths.

Bayrou’s visit follows that of French President Emmanuel Macron as some Mayotte residents have alleged that the French government had long neglected them. The prime minister said a draft emergency law aiming to rebuild Mayotte within two years will be submitted to parliament in January.

And he said local authorities agreed to ban the rebuilding of informal settlements, home to an unknown number of migrants from African nations in the region who hope to make their way to Europe. Many of the makeshift homes were torn apart by the storm.

Bayrou outlined plans to restore electricity to all homes by late January, supported by 200 workers and emergency generators. Water production is expected to reach pre-cyclone levels by January 6, with upgrades to the distribution network set for completion by mid-2025.

He also announced the deployment of 200 Starlink antennas for emergency communications.

Education also faces disruption, with many schools destroyed. Classes will resume January 13, with special provisions for exam students. Temporary schooling in mainland France is also being considered.

In Mozambique, also hit by Cyclone Chido, the National Institute of Risk and Disaster Management said Sunday that 94 people had been killed. Malawi’s presidential office said the death toll there had risen to 13.
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BELGRADE, Serbia — A court in Serbia on Monday convicted the parents of a teenage boy who last year shot dead nine pupils and a school guard and wounded six more people in a school in central Belgrade. 

The Higher Court in Belgrade sentenced Vladimir Kecmanovic, father of the boy, to 14 years, six months in prison for “grave acts against public safety” and for child neglect. The mother, Miljana Kecmanovic, was sentenced to three years in prison for child neglect but was acquitted on charges of illegal possession of weapons. 

The shooter, identified as Kosta Kecmanovic, was 13 years old when he committed the crime and therefore too young to face a trial, according to Serbian law. His parents were detained soon after the shooting and charged for failing to keep the weapons out of reach of their son. 

The massacre at the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school in central Belgrade on May 3, 2023, shocked the Balkan nation, which was used to crises but had not dealt with a mass school shooting. 

The couple’s lawyer, Irina Borovic, said the verdict came as no surprise “because public pressure was enormous, and the expectations were huge.” Borovic said she would appeal the verdicts. 

Ninela Radicevic, who lost her daughter in the shooting, said, “We are not satisfied because no one was held responsible for the murder of nine children” and the school guard. 

The boy used his father’s guns to shoot fellow pupils and others. He walked into the school and first opened fire in a hall before heading into a classroom, where he continued shooting. 

Elementary schools in Serbia enroll students 7 to 15 years old. 

Police have said that the teenager called them after the shooting and calmly said what he had done. He has been held in a specialized institution since the shooting and testified at his parents’ trial. The proceedings were closed to the public except for the reading of the verdicts. 

Also convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison for false testimony was a shooting instructor who worked at a range where the boy practiced. 

The school shooting was followed the next day by another mass killing in villages outside Belgrade. Uros Blazic, 21, took an automatic rifle and opened fire at multiple locations, killing nine people and wounding 12. He was sentenced earlier this month to 20 years in prison. 

The back-to-back shootings triggered a wave of street protests and a crackdown on widespread illegal gun ownership.
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ATHENS, GREECE — Greece announced plans on Monday to enhance parental oversight of mobile devices in 2025 through a government-operated app that will help get digital age verification and browsing controls. 

Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister of digital governance, said the Kids Wallet app, due to launch in March, was aimed at safeguarding children under the age of 15 from the risks of excessive and inappropriate internet use. 

The app will be run by a widely used government services platform and operate in conjunction with an existing smartphone app for adults to carry digital identification documents. 

“It’s a big change,” Papastergiou told reporters, adding that the app would integrate advanced algorithms to monitor usage and apply strict authentication processes. 

“The Kids Wallet application will do two main things: It will make parental control much easier, and it will be our official national tool for verifying the age of users,” he said. 

A survey published this month by Greek research organization KMOP found that 76.6% of children ages 9-12 have access to the internet via personal devices, 58.6% use social media daily, and 22.8% have encountered inappropriate content. 

Many lack awareness of basic safety tools such as the block and report buttons, authors of the study said. 

Papastergiou said the government was hoping to have the children’s app preinstalled on smartphones sold in Greece by the end of 2025. 

While facing criticism from some digital rights and religious groups, government-controlled apps and online services — many introduced during the pandemic — are generally popular in Greece, as they are seen as a way of bypassing historically slow bureaucratic procedures. 

The planned online child protection measures would go further than regulations already in place in several European countries by introducing more direct government involvement. 

They will also help hold social media platforms more accountable for enforcing age controls, Papastergiou said. 

“What’s the elephant in the room? Clearly, it’s how we define and verify a person’s age,” he said. “When you have an [online] age check, you might have a 14-year-old claiming they are 18. Or you could have someone who actually is a genuine 20-year-old. … Now we can address that.”
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a rule change that will allow companies to retain foreign workers on H-1B visas whom they consider “talented.” 

Click here to see the full story in Spanish. 
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As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally, Alexander Lukashenko, prepares to stage another presidential election in Belarus in January, the country continues to face a serious threat of being dragged by the Kremlin into full participation in the war in Ukraine or even losing independence.   

VOA Russian spoke to U.S. experts who painted a dim picture for Belarus for 2025, where Russia is continuing with a de facto annexation of Belarus, bringing the two authoritarian regimes ever closer together, while Lukashenko is risking his country’s independence just to keep himself in power. 

Click here for the full story in Russian. 
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As Azerbaijan squarely put the blame on Russia for shooting down its passenger aircraft, relations between Moscow and its neighbors could become complicated.  

VOA Russian spoke to American analyst Paul Goble, who listed the dangers the plane crash and Russia’s days-long refusal to accept responsibility could pose for its dealings with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.  

Click here for the full story in Russian. 
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