Deutsche Welle

The Foreign Ministry in Belarus stated on Friday that all existing press accreditations of foreign journalists were cancelled. Starting Monday, Journalists are supposed to reapply for accreditation under a new, "streamlined" system.

Belarusian government focus on foreign media organizations follows weeks of critical news coverage of the controversial presidential elections and the disproportionate crackdowns on demonstrations against the longstanding Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.

"The only possible explanation is that the Belarusian government fears independent media and is using every possible trick to prevent independent reporting," states Deutsche Welle's Editor-in-Chief, Manuela Kasper-Claridge.

The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) is the probable winner of the parliamentary election on Sunday. According to an exit poll from Ipsos agency, HDZ was set to win 61 out of 151 parliamentary seats, with the top opposition party the Social Democrats (SDP) and its smaller allies which grabbing 44 seats.

Neither of the two main parties will be able to form a government without going into coalition, and Deutsche Welle reports Prime Minister Plenkovic, from HDZ, may have a better chance of finding allies to form the next government.

Deutsche Welle reports that although slated to start only on September 19, it's "unlikely" Oktoberfest will happen this year.

"I am very very skeptical. And based on the current situation, I can hardly imagine that such a large event would even be possible at that time," Markus Söder told local public broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk on Wednesday evening. A final decision is to be made by Söder, and the mayor of Munich will make a final decision in the next two weeks.

Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer festival and draws in 6 million people every year to the city of Munich.