Day: July 9, 2026

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeyhun Bayramov, has congratulated employees of the country”s diplomatic service on the occasion of their professional holiday, Report informs.

“On July 9 – Professional Holiday of the employees of the diplomatic service bodies of the Republic of Azerbaijan – I sincerely congratulate all my colleagues. In line with the foreign policy course determined by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, I thank all my colleagues who serve our country with unity of purpose and high responsibility, and I wish each of them new achievements in their honorable work. Happy Professional Holiday!” Bayramov said in a post on X.

During negotiations with the European Union (EU) on opening Cluster 3, the main objection raised by the Baltic, Scandinavian, and Benelux countries was Serbia’s refusal to impose sanctions against Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated.

According to Report“s Balkans bureau, Vučić emphasized that Serbia will continue to maintain good relations with both Russia and Ukraine:

“When you impose sanctions on Russia, you suddenly become an extremely ‘democratic’ country; when you shut down Russian media outlets, you become even more ‘democratic,’ and that’s where the matter ends. We treat Ukraine with great respect. Ukraine is a friendly country, one that does not recognize Kosovo and has adopted a declaration respecting territorial integrity in line with the UN Charter. But Russia is also a friendly country for Serbia, and it has supported the protection of Serbia’s territorial integrity.”

Vučić stressed that Serbia will not change its policies under pressure, blackmail, or similar means: “In today’s world, being free and independent is very difficult. You see, even for Spain, it is not easy, and for many other countries, it is not easy either. It is hard to withstand all the attacks, all the advice, and all the criticism coming from every side.”

Serbia will have to allocate state funds again to keep oil and oil product prices at approximately the same level, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated.

According to Report‘s Balkans bureau, Vučić noted that the continuing conflict in the Middle East is creating problems with oil prices:

“The price of oil is rising sharply again. This means that if we do not intervene, tomorrow we will have to significantly increase the price of oil products. A difficult discussion with the finance minister awaits me. We will discuss what we can do and what measures we can take to prevent inflation and a major price hike.”

Vučić stressed that it is not possible to rely on state spending and the budget constantly, but the government will fight to manage the situation in the best possible way. He announced that Serbia will once again have to allocate state funds to maintain stable oil product prices.

He added that this situation is also due to the shutdown of 50% of oil refineries in Russia: “Now everyone, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Türkiye, is importing oil from other directions and from the Mediterranean market at our price indicators, because there is not enough Russian oil.”

The Serbian president also said he had expected the war in the Middle East to continue, since the root of the problem had not been resolved:

“The war between the US and Iran has resumed. I had said that even if the war stopped, it could not be claimed with certainty that it was definitively over. I also said that the Russia–Ukraine conflict would continue, because its fundamental causes have not been resolved. To achieve a ceasefire and peace, someone must clearly win. When this does not happen, when the situation is deadlocked, conflicts do not end.”

He concluded by noting that new confrontations have now arisen around the Strait of Hormuz and other issues.