Austria

"We support the membership of Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen, because the Balkan countries play a very important role for us," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the plenary hall of the European Parliament.

"Today's meeting makes me optimistic that our Schengen admission process, which could not be completed at the end of last year, will be finalized at the beginning of the second half of this year." This was said by Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev after a meeting with Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarachi.

Greek hoteliers have signed contracts with major foreign tour operators with price hikes between 10% and 15% for the 2023 season.

Greece and Malta lag behind their European Union peers in freezing Russian assets sanctioned over Moscow's war against Ukraine, according to an EU official and an internal document, as the bloc considers using the assets to help Kyiv.

Sweden's permanent representative to the EU, Lars Danielsson, whose country has taken over the rotating presidency of the Union since January 1, has said that he will not initiate a vote on Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen admission in the EU Council until an agreement is reached with the countries that opposed of their accession.

Urška Klakočar Zupančič, the speaker of the National Assembly, has come under public scrutiny for flying to Austria's capital to attend the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's concert aboard the government jet.

BELGRADE - Serbia's 2019-2022 cumulative GDP growth was 13.7 pct, one of the highest in Europe, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Wednesday in a reaction to recent reports by some media that have compared Serbia's 2022 GDP growth to that of other countries in the region.

145 years ago on January 4, the Russian liberation troops under the leadership of Field Marshal Iosif Vladimirovich Romeyko-Gurko triumphantly entered Sofia.

There was celebration and joy on both sides of the Slovenian-Croatian border as Croatia joined the Schengen area and adopted the euro on 1 January. More than 30 years after the countries broke away from Yugoslavia, their citizens are once again using the same currency and can cross the border freely.

"Protecting the external borders of the European Union is a common commitment of all member states and is key to tackling illegal migration." This was the general position of President Rumen Radev and the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Karl Nehammer, who talked today in Vienna, reports the press service of the Bulgarian presidency.