Alexandroupoli

Sofia plans to take a minority stake in a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal near Greece's northern city of Alexandroupoli, Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova has said, according to reports.

Greek natural gas company Gastrade on Tuesday launched a market test for a liquified natural gas terminal it is developing in northern Greece.

Companies interested in seeking services and capacity in the terminal must submit non-binding expressions of interest within 45 days, it said.

As the coast guard on Wednesday searched for two people missing from a boat that sank while crossing the Evros River from Turkey earlier this week, authorities in the northeastern Greek region warned of a serious spike in illegal arrivals. 

US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt on Wednesday arrived at the northern Greek coastal town of Alexandroupoli where he met with deputy regional governor of Evros, Dimitris Petrovic.

Inquiries are being conducted after two people were killed and a third injured critically on Friday night after being hit by a train in two separate incidents close to the city of Alexandroupoli in northeastern Greece.

A replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris, will be erected on the namesake northern Aegean island this summer.

According to the deputy regional governor of Evros, Dimitris Petrovic, the marble replica was made by three sculptors in a workshop in the northern Greek town of Drama.

Greece's conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday urged Turkey to end the "illegal detention" of two Greek servicemen arrested in early May for straying into Turkish territory during a border patrol.

"[Turkey] must end the illegal detention of our two officers here and now," Mitsotakis said during a visit to the northern Greek city of Alexandroupoli.

Judicial authorities in northern Greece are investigating the involvement of local lawyers in rackets smuggling migrants and refugees across Greece's Evros River border from Turkey.

One of eight Turkish servicemen who sought protection in Greece in the wake of a botched coup in Turkey in the summer of 2016 was granted asylum on Saturday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began the second and final day of his official visit to Greece on Friday with a trip from Athens to Alexandroupoli in Greece's northeastern tip and then to neighboring Komotini in Western Thrace.

His reception by Muslim Greeks at Komotini was more low-key than anticipated, and the Turkish statesman made no statements in the morning.