Stratfor

The tension has resulted in an increasing number of warships and aircraft from non-belligerents wanting to get as close as possible to each other and see what the other is doing.

NATO and EU officials, along with representatives of organisations dealing with foreign affairs and national security, and academics will be participating in a three-day "Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum" international conference that is starting in the Black Sea resort of Mamaia this after-noon.

But, this peace "will be tested in negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo as they work to normalize their relationship, especially by a controversial idea for swapping territory that could have destabilizing effects in the region," says a Stratfor report.

Namely, the CIA sees the European continent as quite different to what it is today in the near future - divided in three parts: "new," "old," and "(Christian) Orthodox" - and Serbia would be a part of the third.

Expectations about a summit between the leaders of Washington and Moscow are increasing, but just what subjects could be on the table remains a matter of speculation.

The European Commission (EC) warned that the recent announcements by Greek PM Alexis Tsipras to allocate part of the GDP surplus to low income pensioners, which resulted in a heated exchange of rhetoric between the Greek side, EU officials and the IMF, would delay the second review of the fiscal adjustment program.

A suicide car bomber from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group attacked Iraqi special forces in Mosul on Nov. 12, setting off heavy fighting in the northern city.

The early morning attack in the Qadisiya neighborhood, which the troops entered a day earlier, was followed by a barrage of gunfire, mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades, Iraqi officers said.

No matter how interested Bulgaria is in pursuing the South Stream project, the outcome looks bleak, Stratfor writes in an analysis of Russian gas infrastructure plans.

There are certainly reasons Bulgaria and Russia might choose to return to South Stream.

The "obsessive focus" of US media on the personality of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the context of the conflict in Ukraine "obscures much more important geopolitical realities", Jay Ogilvy writes in an analysis posted on the website of Stratfor, the geopolitical intelligence firm.