DUBROVNIK, Croatia (AP) — Croatia and Bosnia signed an agreement Tuesday to build a gas pipeline designed to reduce energy dependency on Russia in the volatile Balkans region.
The Southern Interconnection pipeline will link Bosnia with Croatia’s gas network and the liquefied natural gas terminal on the Adriatic Sea island of Krk. Bosnia has designated a U.S.-based company, AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, as the project's investor and developer.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the chair of Bosnia's Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo, signed the deal in the presence of U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on the sidelines of a summit of the countries of the Baltic, Black and Adriatic regions.
Plenkovic on social media said the gas pipeline would help diversify supplies: "We are strengthening energy security and independence ... which is especially important in these challenging global circumstances."
Kristo called it “a big day for both countries."
Bosnia currently imports practically all of its gas from Russia via pipelines running through neighboring Serbia and through Bulgaria along the TurkStream route.
The new gas pipeline investment could reach up to $1.5 billion, local media have reported.
The U.S. delegation also included Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, who told a panel that the U.S. can help “reduce energy dependency on Russia and to spur economic growth" in the region.
Separately, investment group Pantheon Atlas LLC announced plans for the development of a 50 billion-euro ($58 billion) “hyperscale AI data center and innovation campus” in Croatia. A letter of intent was signed with Croatia's Koncar Group as a local partner.
Secretary of energy Chris Wright, left, is welcomed by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at the Three Seas Initiative summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
VIENNA (AP) — Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
In an email to The Associated Press on Sunday, the Burgenland police office said the suspect was arrested in Salzburg state, to the west.
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand’s baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
Pfaffenhofen, Germany-based HiPP said it has been a “victim of extortion,” adding that an unspecified “blackmailer” sent a message to a shared mailbox in the case, prompting it to immediately inform police.
A view of HIPP baby food on a shelf, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Stanislav Hodina)
