European Union's Foreign Affairs Council

The rapidly evolving crisis in Syria will take center stage at the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis representing Athens.

The fragmented situation in Syria, following the Assad regime's collapse, remains fluid, as recent developments underline.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will be traveling to Brussels on Friday to attend an emergency meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, called to discuss the crisis with Iran and developments in Libya.

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez on Monday said that the country's Yavuz ship will start drilling for hydrocarbon deposits within Cyprus' exclusive economic zone "today or tomorrow," in what Nicosia says is a "serious escalation" by Ankara.

The European Union's Foreign Affairs Council has approved measures against Turkey in response to its plans for illegal hydrocarbons drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus, confirming the 12 July decision of the Council's Permanent Representatives and the conclusions of the 20 June EU summit.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Monday that he and his counterpart Nikola Dimitrov have done everything in their power to pave the way for a breakthrough in talks between Athens and Skopje for settling a decades-old dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu told a meeting on Monday in Brussels of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) that the European Union can bring a relevant contribution to the fight against the Boko Haram group by supporting Nigeria's development.

Photo credit (c): ANGELO BREZOIANU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu met Ukrainian ambassador in Bucharest Teofil Bauer on Tuesday, on which occasion he communicated the Romanian side's expectation that the partial mobilization carried out amid the conflict in eastern Ukraine should not have a 'selective' character and should avoid 'discriminatory approaches that might target ethnic grounds as well'.