News archive of October 2015

Energy is "the only risk for the government," against the backdrop of other sectors where a clear program and strategy are being applied, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said.

Thousands of refugees risk their lives with their families and children despite the bad weather to reach Greece hoping to survive. Some of them manage to land on the Greek islands safely, but many of them don’t make it.

The contribution of local people in the rescuing efforts is vital.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova announced that there was an intended sabotage of local elections held last Sunday.

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Television, Bachvarova stated that two days before the elections, her ministry had initiated specialized operations to prevent exchange of money for votes.

The editorial policy of dailies Bugün and Millet, which belong to the Koza ?pek group that recently was assigned caretakers by the government, have changed their editorial policy in one night, going from anti-government to pro-government. 

The Syrian government's biggest international backers and opponents plunged into negotiations on Oct. 30 over a long-sought compromise to help end the four-and-a-half year civil war and potentially ease President Bashar al-Assad out of power. 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "hopeful" of finding a path forward.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has directly appealed to Turkey's "youth," saying their choices in Nov. 1 snap election will be decisive for the future direction of the country.

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu has expressed his desire to form a single-party government through the votes of Turkish citizens, regardless of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's initiative to give the mandate if the CHP does not gain a majority of the vote in the upcoming Nov. 1 election.

The 2016 budget plan will be the focus of the talks, in addition to a set of policies, between the Serbian government and the IMF mission.

It is part of the third review under Serbia's precautionary stand-by arrangement with the IMF, head of the IMF mission to Serbia James Roaf told Tanjug on Friday.

Medvedev: "EC wants Serbia to end free trade deal with Russia"

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that the European Commission is asking Serbia to terminate its free trade agreement with Russia.

Medvedev noted that the agreement was reached by officials of Russia and Yugoslavia on August 28, 2000.

The refugee crisis and energy issues dominated discussions between Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, at the ministry.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, the two ministers agreed that a political solution for the war in Syria is needed, in order to tackle the root of the problem and rebuild a new country.