International relations

Bulgaria’s former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy believes Crimea’s accession into the Russian Federation is part of President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist policy.

SYRIZA has accused the government of trying to “fool” voters ahead of May’s local and European Parliament elections by aiming to make a return to the markets.

The government has indicated it wants to start issuing sovereign bonds against this year, although this idea has met with the troika’s skepticism.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has refused to commit on the question of whether Greece and the troika will conclude their talks on Monday after lengthy discussions over the weekend.

“I don’t know [if talks will conclude today],” said Stournaras after he left talks with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras at lunchtime on Monday.

Bulgaria will implement a broadband network project worth BGN 39.1M by September 2014, Transport Minister Danai Papazov pledged.

Once the infrastructure is ready, the current internet speed will increase from 30 mb/s to 100mb/s, Standart News reports.

Unemployment in Bulgaria reached 12.9% in 2013.

Data by the National Statistical Institute cited by the website Expert.bg suggests it is up 0.6% compared to the previous year.

The number of Bulgarians currently out of work amounts to 436 000, with 250 000 (or 57.4%) permanently looking for a job.

The Greek Manpower Organization (OAED) announced on Monday the launch of a subsidized program for businesses to hire a total of 10,000 unemployed Greeks.

OAED said that companies would be able to submit their applications from March 21. The program, which runs to 54 million euros, is co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Three new water reservoirs will be built on Bulgarian territory before 2017, Finance Minister Petar Chobanov announced on Monday.

It is estimated that construction will be worth BGN 147 M, Bulgarian website Standart News has reported, citing Minister of Regional Development Desislava Terzieva.

Voting has began in a referendum on whether Venice and its surrounding region should secede from the rest of Italy, Sunday.

Recent opinion polls suggest that two-thirds of the four million electorate favour splitting from Rome in an attempt to restore its 1,000-year history as a sovereign republic. However, the vote will not be legally binding, the BBC News reports.

BELGRADE - New Democratic Party (NDS) leader Boris Tadic has said that he expects the people to vote for political change.

"Unless there is a comlpete change, we will lag behind economically, which will have consequences throughout the decade ahead of us," said Tadic, who is Serbia's former president and the top candidate on the NDS slate.

ZAGREB - A court in Malta has decided to extradite to Croatia Serb Gojko Eror, a construction worker suspected of crimes against humanity, abduction, torture and illegal imprisonment.