Government of Germany

Ljubljana – The defence ministers of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia held an online meeting on Thursday at the initiative of Germany’s Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to exchange views on the German six-month stint at the helm of the European Council and discuss the priorities for next year, when Portugal and Slovenia will take over successively.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva was ranked in 18th place in this year's Forbes' ranking of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

The list includes world leaders in various roles.

The full list of Forbes' ranking is available here.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to extend foundering Brexit trade talks until Sunday.

After in-person discussions in Brussels that lasted hours, both sides said Wednesday evening that they remained far apart on key issues and a decision on the future of the talks would be made by the end of this weekend.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday evening to discuss Brexit.

In a tweet, von der Leyen said she was looking forward "to welcoming U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tomorrow evening. We will continue our discussion on the Partnership Agreement."

Greece and the European Union have agreed to a timeline for the construction of a new up-to-standard center for the reception and identification of migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, the European Commission announced on Thursday.

Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, which have borne the brunt of the European Union's migration crisis, have sent a joint memorandum outlining their positions regarding the bloc's new Pact on Migration and Asylum to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

A top European Union official said Wednesday that the first citizens in the 27 nation bloc could be vaccinated against the coronavirus by Christmas, but she warned that member countries must urgently prepare their logistical chains for the rollout of hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccines.

Turkey and Germany traded barbs on Tuesday after German soldiers boarded a Turkish vessel on behalf of an EU military mission in the Mediterranean, with Berlin calling its NATO ally's protests unjustified and Ankara saying the move was illegal.

Turkey's protest against German soldiers boarding a Turkish vessel on behalf of an EU military mission in the Mediterranean is unjustified, Germany's defense minister said.

The Prime Minister announced categorically that neither the borders nor the settlements will be closed anymore.

According to PM Boyko Borissov, the strength of the COVID-19 epidemic is no longer so strong and hospitals have been strengthened enough.